Gareth is a top rugby league journalist who has one very exceptional distinction. He chooses to write about matters pertaining to the Championship and League One.
Although this blog is devoted to Featherstone Rovers it is always good to read opinions about matters relevant to us, but not specifically about us. We hope you enjoy reading Gareth's column each week.
Super Saturday
LAST
Saturday was one of the most significant days for rugby league outside the top
flight in living memory.
Within
a matter of hours, London, Toulouse and Toronto had beaten Super League
opponents Salford, Hull KR and Widnes in the Qualifiers to throw that
competition wide open.
That
all three come from outside Lancashire and Yorkshire made the results even more
eye-catching, and certainly showed the progress that the competition as a whole
has made in recent years.
The
whole trio run full-time squads that has allowed them to compete with their
Super League counterparts, and in some people’s
mind justify the current Super 8s system.
But
whatever your opinion on the demise of that structure, there’s
little that can be done to change it now - so can the Championship continue to
thrive under the new plans?
There
are a number of issues to consider.
The
central funding at the top end of the second tier is unlikely to be as large as
it is now, with an evening-out of the distribution set to be introduced and end
what can be a £600,000 difference between top and
bottom in the competition.
That
was in place to allow the leading clubs to challenge top flight opponents in
the Qualifiers, and has clearly worked to an extent, although it should be
pointed out that Toronto are self-funded and Toulouse didn’t
receive the windfall this year having missed 2017’s top four.
But
with no Qualifiers, the clubs will only be competing against each other from
next year, so a levelling out of funding does make sense - although some kind
of incentivised prize money would also be sensible.
From
next year Championship clubs can concentrate solely on being the best team in
their competition with one automatic promotion place open to the winners of the
Grand Final - although parachute payments for Super League clubs dropping down
will give them a considerable advantage.
Still,
it’s that window of opportunity that will
hopefully be enough to attract the necessary investors to the sport at this
level - and a new TV deal wouldn’t hurt on that front either, both in terms of
money and exposure.
It’s
a changing landscape for the competition and it would be a massive loss for the
sport as a whole if it doesn’t have strong clubs in the second tier pushing up.
Among
those next year could be York City Knights, who must be mentioned after
securing promotion on the final day of the regular season.
They
have been outstanding this year under coach James Ford and have the ambition
and vision to rival those clubs striving to join the elite in coming years.
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