Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess has had his say on Super League expanding to 14 teams for the 2026 campaign, labelling the change “exciting” despite many having questions over the quality and depth of the competition.
Midway through the 2025 season it was confirmed that Super League would expand to 14 teams in 2026 with 12 of those determined by IMG rankings and a further two by application, with the expansion sides receiving less central funding.
That understandably puts strain on those sides to field a team that is as strong as those who have full central funding, with York Knights and Toulouse Olympique the two sides to not receive full funding.
In the aftermath of a season where Salford Red Devils were placed under financial constraints and were often on the back end of blowout scores, expansion has been questioned but Warrington Wolves head coach Sam Burgess is not as skeptical.
“I guess we’ll see. It’s hard to predict the future,” he said to BBC Radio Merseyside when asked about the competition’s move to 14 teams.
Promoted Super League sides tipped to cause surprises
Burgess would cite the 2025 success of Wakefield Trinity, who had won the 2024 Championship to earn promotion and went on to make the Super League play-offs, as a blueprint for how and why expansion can add to the competition.
He argued: “Wakefield came in last year and they had a wonderful year so I think it shows that you can get it right.
“I think there will be a few surprises, I hope it adds.”
Of course, Wakefield had been a Super League side for a long time previous and had an owner willing to invest heavily, something that promoted teams York and Toulouse don’t necessarily have.
Pushed further on if those squads are strong enough for Super League, Burgess responded: “I’m going to keep things positive, that’s your job (to look objectively at squad strength). My job is to focus on what we have.
“I think it’s exciting, certainly for the teams that are new to the comp and then also Bradford, who are a bit of a sleeping giant.
“Hopefully that gets a bit of excitement around Bradford and I wish them all the luck throughout the year once we get going.”
Wire will have York Knights as their first promoted opponents in 2026, playing Mark Applegarth’s side on March 6th before facing Toulouse and Bradford in May.
Check out the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show on our YouTube channel here.
John Dalton
January 25, 2026 at 12:42 pm
If York & Toulouse don’t finish bottom, I will be surprised. NO money – enough said!!