Featherstone chairman hits out at clubs and RFL chief

Featherstone chairman Mark Campbell has hit out at fellow clubs and the RFL chief executive following Friday’s EGM.

Campbell was part of the Championship and League 1 advisory group that held a press conference on Thursday to state they would be voting against the Super League proposals, which were eventually passed with 68% of the ballot.

After their calls for an open ballot were ignored, Campbell expressed his disappointment at clubs he said had changed their mind when voting, but he also had a thinly veiled dig at Ralph Rimmer, questioning the purpose of his role now that Robert Elstone is in place in an equivalent role for Super League.

In a statement, he said: “I’m baffled that nine Championship and League 1 clubs appear to have turned back on how they said they would vote.

“It seems bizarre that some of those clubs may not even be around when the structure changes come into place.

“There are some clear winners from this outcome, if you look at where certain teams are placed in relation to the promotion and relegation spots.

“It makes me really disappointed that we didn’t have an open vote and I expressed that vocally in advance.

“It’s a time for us to pull together as a club and deal with this new structure.

“In all honesty, this has been less about the structure itself, and more about the change in power from the RFL to Super League.

“That makes me very concerned going forward and you’ve got to think, if we’re cutting costs, then why should we have two Chief Executives?

“If Super League are going to run the show then do we really need to pay another salary?”