RFL in loan player climbdown ahead of Championship Shield Final

The RFL have released a statement allowing Leigh and Featherstone to register players on loan ahead of this weekends Championship Shield Final to ensure the fixture goes ahead ,

The statement says that the clubs can register Academy players who have not made any 1st team Super League appearances ahead of the game on Sunday .

Whilst the problems at Leigh have been well documented Rovers have also struggled for numbers towards the end of the season and this controversial decision means neither club will have to forfeit the tie .

The governing body stated the decision , in exceptional circumstances , was made in agreement with all Championship and league one clubs .
This leaves a situation where the Centurions will be signing new players whilst not paying some players some players from their own squad . There are 6 players who have refused to sign a compromise deal to terminate their contracts who are reported to have not been paid for September .

It’s ab embarrassing climb down by the RFL to bail out a team that were in Super League last year and presumably received a parachute payment for 2018 .

Players agent Graeme Taylor has accused the Centurions of bullying players on twitter , saying that players who refuse to sign the compromise deal on their contracts get nothing .

Meanwhile players union representative Gareth Carvell has hinted that they are supporting the players at LSV and a statement will be released soon .
Player welfare has become a major issue in this with Leigh only fielding 13 players at Dewsbury last week and whilst this is an embarrassing about turn by the games ruling body , on a weekend where we should be talking about Super League semi finals and the Million Pound Game , you have to feel that common sense has prevailed .

It is staggering to think of the differing fortunes of the 2 clubs who played in last years Million Pound Game , with Catalans win at Wembley , and we have to worry about the future of our great game .