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Leeds Rhinos CEO ‘brokering’ NRL club’s London Broncos takeover

- 17/03/2023 - Commercial - Leeds Sports Awards 2023 - New Dock Hall, Leeds, England - Gary Hetherington.

Leeds Rhinos CEO Gary Hetherington is reportedly a key player in brokering a deal that will see London Broncos secure their future.

Hetherington has been a stalwart at Headingley over the years and has been involved with the club for almost 30 years but per a report by Matt Hughes in The Sun, Hetherington has helped broker a deal that will see London Broncos secure much-needed investment.

London entered Super League in 2024 after winning the Championship Grand Final from fifth with the capital’s club having little to no chance of building a squad capable of competing given their doomed IMG status.

The Broncos had registered a lowly Grade B and looked certainties to suffer relegation from before a ball was kicked. As that came to fruition in late 2024, long-term investor David Hughes stepped away from the club leaving them in financial disarray.

Since then, they have been trying to secure funds to secure their future. Head coach Mike Eccles recently teased “positive news” and that has been followed swiftly by Matt Hughes’ report of NRL backing at the club.

Leeds Rhinos man reportedly involved in London Broncos’ NRL takeover

According to Hughes’ report, Brisbane Broncos are in advanced talks about investing in London Broncos with the NRL giants set to buy part of the Championship side.

It would secure much-needed funding with the report claiming that “significant investment” has been offered as part of a “rescue package”.

More incredible is the reported involvement of Leeds Rhinos’ CEO Gary Hetherington given his long-standing affiliation with the Headingley club. It’s unclear how Hetherington’s involvement would affect his current role with the Rhinos.

Hetherington’s grip on power at Leeds has weakened given the creation of a Sporting Director role last season which saw former Salford man Ian Blease appointed. As such, it has meant that Hetherington is no longer the sole person in charge of recruitment as had previously been the case.

For London, it’s a major boost with the ‘support package’ potentially set to be completed by the end of the month, prior to the Championship season kicking off.

NRL involvement in Super League was reported last year with one of the competition’s prominent faces Gus Gould claiming that English clubs had contacted him to reveal they wanted an NRL takeover.

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