A leading NRL CEO has taken aim at the state of rugby league in England and details how Super League should be rebranded as ‘NRL Europe’.
Wests Tigers’ CEO Shane Richardson, who was formerly the chief at Gateshead Thunder and Hull FC, as well as serving on the RFL board, has hit out at the state of rugby league in England and specifically how it hasn’t changed in 25 years.
With talks of Super League being taken over by the NRL a hot topic right now, Richardson appeared on James Graham‘s The Bye Round podcast to discuss such matters and that started with him outlining how old-fashioned and outdated rugby league in England is.
He explained: “First of all, I’m the only Australian to ever serve on the Super League board. I was on the board in 2000 with Gary Hetherington, Nigel Wood, Maurice Lindsay, and some other bloke. The same people are still there except for Maurice, unfortunately. Nothing has changed in those times.”
When Graham commented upon Nigel Wood’s RFL exit and his recent return to head up a Strategic Review as interim chairman, Richardson bluntly stated: “Don’t even start me on that, I’ve made my point clear on (Nigel Wood), it’s a farce.”
“Nothing ever changes” – NRL CEO’s explosive comments on English rugby league
He would quickly outline the major problems in English rugby league, whilst also offering praise, as he highlighted the state of decline in the sport.
Richardson said: “The challenge you’ve always had is that England have always had this insular competition. I love English football and the fans, I love all that but at the end of the day, they live in that (M62) corridor.
“As long as you have Batley having the same vote as St Helens, you’re going to have the fight that’s going on now,” Richardson added, something which isn’t factual as Super League clubs do hold a weighted vote, however, Batley and other Championship and League One clubs do vote on matters affecting rugby league.
Continuing, the Australian said: “They try to change it all the time, but nothing ever changes. The only way they get recognition is because of St Helens, Wigan, Hull and Warrington. Those millionaires, they sit there and think, ‘What the hell is happening here?’
“When you’ve got a situation where darts has become twice the TV product of rugby league, it gives you some idea of where they’ve gone backwards and the standards that are there.”
What would Super League look like if it was rebranded ‘NRL Europe’?
Many within the sport feel that NRL intervention can be the saviour and Richardson spoke on the prospect of the NRL investing in Super League and in turn helping save English rugby league.
Speaking on the importance of an international game, Richardson noted that Super League, and particularly France, were essential for the sport.
The Wests man said: “Let’s have a broader picture. You’ve got a fantastic game and any time you’re in the s**t the players get you out of it, but you’ve got to think outside of the box. You can’t think that Batley will bring more fans to the game than Catalans, and that’s the way they think. You’ve got to think about how we’re going to get a bigger slice of the pie.
“This is the way it’s got to look, you can’t have promotion and relegation; you’ve got to have two teams from France. There are six certainties from England and two based on what the finances are and what we put in, so we don’t have a Salford situation again.
“You set that up and have 10 teams; you take that product to these people who are looking for world things. You do a deal at the highest level, then they all buy in, the teams get more money, and the game gets more money.
“Nothing affects the RFL or the running of the amateur game because, at the moment, there’s a pool that they get a percentage of that goes back to run the RFL, which is about 27%.
“They’ll still get 27%, but they’ll get 27% of a lot more. But they’ve got to run the game like we run the game.
“We can do all that, but the NRL has to control it for the period because we have to put people in who know how to run the game. It should be called NRL Europe.”
