The Race for Super League - A Pen Pusher's Paradise!

Rugby League is a sport that seems stuck in a never ending cycle of change. A sport that prides itself on 'never being afraid to innovate', to mask that 'innovation' is a guise for a sport that lacks confidence in any decision that it makes.

I have yet to come across a sport that changes the structure of its competition as frequently as we do. There's a reason for that. It is a sideshow. We should focus on the on-field action rather than off-field politics. With Toronto's rejection from Super League, we have yet again failed to do that. 

That decision has left Super League with an imbalance of 11 teams and the decision has been made to promote a 12th team. With the 2020 Championship season cancelled, the only means of promoting a team is through an application process. You may recall that this was once known as 'licensing'.

As a lover of sport, I always found it unsatisfactory that the participants of a competition were decided by the stroke of an administrator's pen rather than the players on field performance, which is ultimately, what the sport is about.

It left a tinge of injustice and lack of transparency regarding a team's inclusion or exclusion from Super League. In the early licensing days, Widnes were excluded from Super League despite objectively appearing to meet the criteria, whilst other incumbents with crumbling stadiums and perilous finances were left in.

This week, Toronto were excluded from the competition, a decision which ultimately arose from their withdrawal from the 2020 season. This decision was made by Super League clubs, some of whom also withdrew from the 2020 competition in the same week, without a hint of irony. There was more than an element of self-interest in this decision. This self-interest contributed to Toronto's downfall. Sadly, Super League seems to have learned nothing from this as the promoted team will receive just half of the central funding compared to other clubs, according to the Daily Mirror.

This has not dissuaded interest and a mini-licensing battle has begun. I accept that a form of licensing was the only way to complete the competition for 2021, but I hope that this does not become permanent. A cloak-and-dagger approach supported by a haphazard application of criteria is not the way forward. Our last licensing system appeared designed so that the criteria fitted the desired clubs, rather than the other way around.

The integrity of on field promotion can leave no ambiguity as to who deserves to be in Super League. With a vacant place available in Super League, there has been no shortage of expressions of interest. London, Toulouse, Featherstone, York, Bradford, Halifax and Newcastle. Widnes and Leigh have yet to publicly declare an interest but there can be little doubt that these two clubs harbour ambitions of a return to Super League in the medium-term at least.

Some of these applications will be more meritorious than others. Some have never been in Super League and are an ambitious new breed. Some have fallen out of Super League and want to restore former glory. 

What is positive is that we now have around 20 clubs who want to take part in Super League. The more clubs with ambition, the better for the sport. With the circumstances of the past year, there can be no doubt that the sport is in survival mode. So it is very pleasing to see that this has not hamstrung ambition.

For the sport to thrive, a strong Super League is not enough. We need strong lower tiers. Clubs who want more than to make up the numbers but desire to compete at the top level. After a week of bad news and chaos, having a positive outlook on the sport is no bad thing.

Best of luck to all of the prospective applicants.