New London Broncos director, Gary Hetherington, has stated that the NRL has not made any formal proposals to London or the Super League as a whole.
On Monday night, he spoke at a fan forum, with his new project in the capital, a new name change, NRL Europe, international rugby league and IMG all on the agenda, starting with whether the club would see a change in identity.
The Broncos have had many a rebrand over the years, with Fulham, Harlequins and London Crusaders the names of yesteryear London teams.
Hetherington, the current Leeds Rhinos CEO who will leave AMT Headingley at the end of the season, said: “I changed the name at Leeds, and I can tell you that at the time it was unpopular. The fans of Leeds didn’t want to change names. They said, we don’t want all these gimmicky names. We did change, and this is the best thing we ever did.”
Hetherington mentioned that there was a key figure in the game that he was talking to, and that person gave his thoughts on the idea.
“I won’t give you the name of the person I’m talking to, but he’s a very prominent person in the media, he’s a Rugby League fan, and he’s not an Englishman. But he was saying, in his opinion, the name should be simply London Rugby League. I said to him thank you very much for your suggestion and that it needs to be in the melting pot like all the other suggestions.”
What London Broncos’ incoming director had to say about NRL and IMG
On the idea of the NRL getting involved with the Super League and London, the 70-year-old gave clarity on what has happened so far, and said how the two competitions need to work together.
“There have been no proposals from the NRL… Australians generally know the benefits that a successful London team could bring to our game, so they are quite keen to assist. They don’t quite know where or when or how to do it.”
Hetherington also discussed the future of international rugby league.
He said: “The international game is low hanging fruit. We’ve got great products, we’ve got great teams across the Pacific nations and of course England. I think we’ve got so much attention in that international game that is untapped.”
The current Rhinos CEO continued: International Rugby League doesn’t generate our sport much money at all, but it could and should be. It needs to be organised and needs the RFL and the NRL to come together to create a strategic plan for the next 10 years.”
One of the final topics on the forum was IMG, with fans concerned about their involvement in the game. Hetherington assured them that they were simply advisors.
He said: “There’s a lot of misconceptions about IMG. They have no constitutional power whatsoever. They can’t make any decisions. Anything that they recommend is going to be effectively approved by the clubs and agreed by the clubs.”
Hetherington added: “I agree with what they are recommending. But of course, the sport doesn’t have the money to actually fund the sort of things that they are advocating. So, one of the problems within the game generally is that it does lack investment. It lacks having money to be able to fuel growth which is undoubtedly there.”
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Wiganexpat
June 17, 2025 at 3:22 am
Here are a handful of suggestions for you
1. Appoint a full time dedicated team at RFL with the sole focus of identifying and securing sponsorship not only for the game but for every club in Superleague. Set KPI’s (you know those things that IMG are so keen on setting for clubs) for total sponsorship secured across the game. Hold RFL directors accountable for those KPI’s.
2. Appoint a full time Superleague Marketing department to promote Superleague and superleague games.
3. Start getting serious in talks with the media over TV contracts. Look at what we can do in internet streaming space. Take Rugby League to a global audience.
4. Sit down with the NRL and put serious plans together about how we can grow our game. See if they will assist with funding and expertise and anything else. Don’t wait for the phone to ring, fly to Sydney if needed and bang their door down.
The very last thing we need to do is stop burying our heads in the sand and assuming everything will be OK. We have to blow up our current management and governance structures and reinvent ourselves. Superleague has to be the way to go whether we call it Superleague or NRL Europe – that does not matter but it is this level of the comp that generates the income. These clubs have to be the focus and it is these clubs that have to have the votes in decision making. It is only through these clubs making money is there any hope for all clubs and for our sport in general.