Pearson blasts the RFL

Hull owner Adam Pearson has blasted the RFL following a tribunal over the departure of youngster Luke Briscoe to Leeds.

Briscoe, the younger brother of England winger Tom, switched to Headingley in September, signing a four-year deal, with Hull claiming compensation having brought him through their academy.

However, an RFL tribunal ruled that the club were not due compensation under Operational Rule C1:3:12(a) stating that Hull FC had relinquished their entitlement to compensation because the terms of the new contract they had offered Briscoe were less favourable than his previous contract. 

It led to Pearson calling for changes within the RFL, and he also took the opportunity to express his disappointment at the Stobart Super League sponsorship deal.

He said: “The result of this morning’s RFL tribunal on Luke Briscoe has obviously not come as a surprise to us at Hull FC as we fully expected this predictable outcome despite Luke being presented with three formal contract offers. 

“The whole tribunal process taking six months has been a complete sham and fiasco from start to finish and I had no confidence whatsoever that this would be a fair or equitable outcome. 

“After the debacle of the Super League naming rights sponsorship process and other poorly handled situations over the last twelve months, this only serves as further confirmation that there needs to be a complete root and branch overhaul of the entire governing body and its hugely expensive and ineffectual infrastructure. 

“This is certainly my view and I believe that of a number of other Super League club owners and Chairman and this review process is now of the utmost importance to the game as a whole.”