Tommy Makinson calls on IMG to make this change to rugby league

IMG is coming in to re-imagine rugby league and one of Super League’s top stars, St Helens winger Tommy Makinson, is excited about what they could do for the sport.

He said that he believes “the only way is up” but there is a lot of “improvement” IMG can bring to the product.

“I am excited by IMG, I am welcoming that. The only way is up for our game, it is great to watch but there is a lot of improvement for us,” Makinson said to Serious About Rugby League.

He also identified one area that he feels IMG needs to focus on: the World Club Challenge and international rugby as a whole.

“Massively the World Club Challenge needs to be built on,” he said.

“I feel like internationally, there needs to be more. We need to play NRL teams more.

“There needs to be more international rugby league, if we want to grow the game to where it should be there needs to be more internationally.”

He also suggested that IMG looked at moving the World Club Challenge to the end of the season so it can be a bigger spectacle:

“There is so many things, that is one of the things IMG could look at but it might be the case where they simply can’t do it because there is so many games.

“People way above my paygrade can sort all that out. We’re just happy it’s here.”