The NRL chief at the heart of a reported Salford Red Devils rebrand has spoken on any potential investment in Super League.
NRL possibly investing in Super League has been widely reported for some time but talks of individual Australian clubs investing and/or taking over Super League sides is a more recent development, with the most recent revolving around Sydney Roosters and Salford Red Devils.
Journalist Michael Chammas explained on Channel Nine’s 100% Footy Show that he’d heard recent talks that the Roosters could look into buying a team with Salford named, given the Red Devils’ current financial hardships.
However, it was also revealed that should the Roosters go down the path of investing in the struggling club that they’d want to rebrand them, aligning them with their own Roosters brand.
Chammas revealed: “The team that I am hearing at the moment is that the Roosters are eyeing Salford and looking at potentially rebranding them to the Manchester Roosters if the NRL does take control of the Super League.
NRL involvement necessary for Super League claims man linked to Salford Red Devils
A fresh report in The Sydney Morning Herald has seen comments from Nick Politis, the billionaire businessman who is the chairman of the Sydney Roosters, whilst two other clubs up for ‘consideration’ have been revealed.
Politis was quoted as saying: “Nothing will happen unless the NRL is involved. We see a lot of potential for the game in England and we want to be part of it if the NRL is on board. We see an opportunity and we will wait to see what happens next.”
That relates to previous reports that the NRL would be willing to invest in Super League on the provision that they gain “complete administrative control” from 2028.
As such, a number of considered options for what an NRL-run Super League would look like have been put forward and one of those is a 10-team competition with two French sides along with Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Warrington Wolves, Leeds Rhinos, Hull FC and Hull KR, leaving just two spots.
Should the Roosters invest in Salford then the Red Devils, likely rebranded to the Manchester Roosters, would be the ninth team with one spot remaining.
The Herald’s report also reveals that York Knights and London Broncos are clubs being “considered” for investment from the Roosters, with York’s owner Clint Goodchild recently attending a Roosters game with Politis.
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Wiganexpat
April 30, 2025 at 2:13 am
The NRL will want clubs in high population centres which seems to give Salford a leg up. However Salford is a basket case for a reason so they might choose say Wigan as their Manchester team instead, Saints as their Liverpool team, London has to be in there, 2 French clubs, Leeds and one Hull club leaving 3 others. The 2 french clubs are likely to be Toulouse and Catalans although I can see the NRL being keen on Paris (is Saint Germain still going?).