London Broncos part-owner Darren Lockyer has given his verdict on the chances that the NRL invests in Super League, something that has long been rumoured and reported.
There was heavy speculation in early 2025 that NRL investment was on the radar with the NRL reportedly considering purchasing a 33% stake in Super League, with the plan being for them to take “complete administrative control” from 2028.
It was posited that an NRL-run Super League would be capped to ten teams, comprising two French sides, St Helens, Warrington Wolves, Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos, Hull FC, Hull KR and two more English clubs, however, Super League has actually expanded to 14 teams since then.
The notion of NRL investment has remained though with Peter V’landys speaking to the BBC in the autumn admitting that the NRL ‘could’ invest but he underlined that structural change was needed.
One man with strong ties to the NRL and newfound ties to rugby league in England is London Broncos’ part-owner Darren Lockyer, who was recently asked about the possibility of NRL investment.
NRL ‘willing to help’ but not ‘ready to invest’ in Super League
Appearing on Sky Sports’ The Bench Podcast, Lockyer was asked what he believed was the current status quo regarding possible NRL investment.
“I think the easiest way to sum that up is that the NRL are willing to help but I don’t think they’re ready to invest,” he admitted.
“They want to see Super League get stronger and stronger and they’re willing to use some of the things they’ve learned over in Australia and share that knowledge.
“In terms of investing, I think that is a bit of time away.”
That falls in line with V’landys’ comments about structural change being needed before investment was considered and Lockyer went on to note the major differences between Super League and NRL, mainly the money and how the game is funded.
He argued: “I think you’ve got to get to a point where the central distribution covers the salary cap because having to rely on wealthy individuals to prop these clubs up is not sustainable.
“You need to make all the clubs, in Super League especially, viable businesses and that’s the key for being able to then reinvest money back into grassroots and the clubs.”
Whilst central distribution to Super League clubs is around £1.2 million with the salary cap at £2.1 million, NRL clubs get enough from the central fund to cover their salary cap, something that has risen to around three times as much as the cap in Super League.
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Wiganexpat
January 31, 2026 at 12:12 pm
It wasn’t that the NRL weren’t ready to invest in Superleague, it was Nigel Wood et al who did not want to give up control. The NRL are a level above Superleague on every level and are looking to go a level higher (becoming a Global sport) and are looking to access the sort of money that Superleague can only dream of. The sad thing is that we could have become a part of that.
We have to recognise that sport is a business and we have to start treating it as a business in a completely professional way. To sum up what has happened, We are up a certain creek without a paddle and we have just put a hole in the bottom of the boat.
If PVL didn’t respect the English game as much as he does, I could see him saying stuff this and forming an NRL Europe competition. I reckon that some of the biggest clubs in Superleague might jump ship and join him as well.