The curious case of Super League: Can status quo be the solution?

The start of the 2025 Super League season has seen a juxtaposition of all-time highs with the same questions that have been hanging over the competition since its infancy.

Super League put itself alongside the NRL when Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves faced off in Vegas, the sport feeling like it had reached a new stratospheric landmark.

That optimism came crashing down as Salford's financial saga continues to unfold and the RFL sits in limbo as they go through a strategic review following Simon Johnson's resignation as chairman, headed by former chief Nigel Wood, to decide who the next chief will be.

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Yes, the former chairman, who was paid £300,000 to leave the RFL in 2017, has been brought in to decide who should replace the outgoing chairman, with many clubs backing Wood himself to make his return.

The reasoning for this change is because some clubs believe the RFL has become separated from them and that the governing body is making unilateral decisions that affect revenue without their input.

They see the financial outlook as bleak and believe only change at the top will bring a return to profitability for clubs, with even those considered giants of the competition returning losses.

However, it is the RFL's third review in 10 years, posing the question - do they need a review into the number of reviews?

Ultimately, no matter where clubs, fans, players and pundits fall on the issue one thing is glaringly clear- they want the sport to be financially stable. If this is club-specific or competition-specific is yet to be determined.

So, to understand what is unfolding, we first need to understand how the RFL, RL Commercial, and Super League is organised...

What is the structure of the RFL?

The issue facing Super League and the RFL is what happens when owners of clubs control how the sport is run as a whole.

Currently, the 12 Super League clubs have a seat on the table within the RFL and their vote holds the most weight when it comes to decisions, such as ousting a chairman. This makes sense due to the fact that their investment in their clubs is what keeps the competition steady.

But this also means those who have very generously poured money into their own individual clubs have the say on what happens to the competition as a whole. For example: 'X deal is good for the sport but is it bad for my club?' It is unlikely they would vote against the financial interest of their club.

With Wood returning, the question has been asked of these owners if they are bringing him back to protect their short-term situations over the long-term goals for the sport.

Ultimately, can those who control individual clubs properly control the game as a whole? Can you get turkeys to vote for Christmas?

There is then RL Commercial. This is a joint venture between the RFL and Super League consolidating the top league's commercial rights interests with the rest of the league structure.

In these votes, Super League Europe gets no more than 50 per cent of the vote and RFL gets no more than 50 per cent.

When looking at things like central distribution, rights and sponsorship, the clubs feel they want an RFL chair who is acting for what they want.

So what do the Super League clubs think Wood will do for them...

Backing Wood: Beaumont, Hetherington, and McManus

Three vocal supporters of the return of Wood to lead the strategic review and ultimately be reappointed as chairman have been Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont, outgoing Leeds Rhinos CEO Gary Hetherington and St Helens chairman Eamonn McManus.

For McManus, the financial situation of many of Super League's top clubs requires immediate action to ensure that over the next few years the competition can head back towards a path of profitability. Not only that, they feel that the current system is unsustainable and will result in bankruptcy of clubs.

"Probably the worse business model in British sport over the last 20 or 30 years has been club rugby union," McManus told The Bench podcast. "Whereby individual owners have had to pony up £4m, £5m per year and clearly that eventuated in the bankruptcy of three clubs in the same season, and there is another one that is possibly going to happen now.

"If that happened in rugby league... and take it from me, unless things change, it will. We have seen it with Salford already.

"Perversely, Salford have the best financial results, they lose the least money. What they don't have is backers and underwriters. They do not have owners who are prepared to put in £3m to £4m per year which we are facing at this point in time.

"We have adopted a business model - incredulously, the same as rugby union - and while we the clubs realise that this cannot continue, we can only work with the RFL and RL Commercial, which I have recently joined as a director, firstly to recognise its scope.

"An example that really turned me was, back in November last year, the RFL announced that basically the salary cap had indirectly been abolished without any reference from the owners and with no approval from the owners.

"We got together, had a vote, and reversed it by 11-1, because on top of the £2-4m per club we were already losing, to abolish the salary cap and cause hyper-inflation was nonsensical. How could that happen?

"This is what I was saying in terms of lack of communication, lack of empathy, lack of action. That has got to change."

The RFL declined to comment on McManus' remarks.

Peet: Get together in a room and sort it out!

Two clubs which abstained on the vote to bring in Wood to lead the strategic review and remove Johnson were Wigan Warriors and Warrington Wolves.

For Wigan head coach Matt Peet, the heads of clubs need to come together, agree on a solution and implement a vision that will take the game forward.

"Too much time is spent about individual agendas of clubs. I think we should come together and sort out our sport. We have got so much intelligence and experience in all the boardrooms," Peet told Sky Sports.

"Get together in a room for two days and come out with a vision that is rooted in working-class ethics but is ambitious and we will all get behind it.

"Don't worry about getting your side of the story out. Take pride in people not knowing everything that is said."

A new investor? Whispers of the NRL..

Rumours have been swirling for a number of months that the owners of Australia's National Rugby League and their chief executive Peter V'landys would step in as a new investor in the competition.

This move, it is reported, would see the NRL take control of the sport and the club owners take a backseat on league matters with the guarantee of financial certainty.

However, the recent changes at the top of the RFL have supposedly not impressed key figures down under.

McManus says he is open to conversations with the NRL.

"I am absolutely open to dialogue," McManus added. "My background is investment banking, mergers, acquisitions and the two fit perfectly.

"If you are going to look for the commencement of the global game rather than pockets of domestic rugby league, one of which is very powerful and successful and one which is not, then to combine the two is the potential of a win-win for the NRL and Super League to collaborate.

"Whether that is financially, in partnership or the likes, but we must be open to speaking to very successful people over there that are the pioneers and trailblazers in our sport.

"This is not about power, this is about making the game of rugby league a more commercially strong, powerful, vibrant sport.

"A constructive and open dialogue is welcome on both sides."

So what next?

Well isn't that the ultimate question! Obviously investment would bring money and expedite the process of clubs and Super League overall becoming a profitable market.

But Super League clubs will be hoping the strategic review, which will bring results in July, will offer a way forward that means no strategic reviews are required for the foreseeable future,

Super League Round Six Fixtures (all live on Sky Sports)

Thursday March 27

• 8pm: Castleford Tigers vs Catalans Dragons

Friday March 28

• 8pm: Leigh Leopards vs Wakefield Trinity
• 8pm: Warrington Wolves vs Leeds Rhinos (5,000th game)

Saturday March 29

• 5.30pm: Catalans Dragons vs St Helens

Sunday March 30

• 3pm: Huddersfield Giants vs Hull KR
• 3pm: Wigan Warriors vs Salford Red Devils

Sky Sports will again show every game of the Super League live this season - including two matches in each round exclusively live, with the remaining four matches each week shown on Sky Sports+ via the red button.