Butcher:
Wigan and the Hull clubs voted against expanding.
I’ve no issue with expanding to 14 teams - it’ll even out the fixture list, provide more variety as a fan, more opportunities for clubs to make money, and give the RFL more leverage/potential UK subscribers when they come to negotiate a new TV deal next year.
However, the method (first 12 teams by IMG and another two by an ‘independent’ panel) is a joke. If more people cared it’d be considered corruption. Wood worms his way back in and I bet you anything Bradford are back in Super League next year despite being ranked 15th or 16th most commercially viable by a genuinely independent body in IMG, because a bloke he’s done a solid for says so.
Expect it to look something like this next year:
St Helens
Wigan
Leeds
Warrington
Hull KR
Catalans
Hull FC
Wakefield
Leigh
Castleford
Toulouse
Huddersfield
Bradford
London or York
Completely agree, it's a joke, but yeah, the only bright side is to get rid of the silly extra fixtures. But surely the time to move to 14 teams is when we have an idea what financial backing each club is going to get, when we've been through the process next year. This all looks so small-time amateur hour; no wonder some people look at us as a joke, because we just don't help ourselves sometimes. This is just another example of RL putting something in place, IMG, and then not giving it a chance to flourish or not. We can keep IMG and make the Super League 14 teams, but surely you can't do it on what ifs and maybe's; it's a recipe for another disaster down the line. Add to that the recruitment of some of the teams coming up, given that so many SL teams will have done much of their recruitment for next year, are going to be absolute gash. Teams struggle to get SL standard players now, even with the extra quota spots, that isn't gonna change imo.
I'd like to know why Matt voted for expanding and his reasons, if it was him, or if several people decided at the club.
