WILL the Salford club spring back to life on Wednesday, when the RFL is expected to announce which of three consortia will be awarded the right to enter into the Championship in 2026?

I don’t know which of the three, if any of them, will get the nod, but I sincerely hope that one of them is able to demonstrate that they have the financial backing and Rugby League acumen to be able to put a club together at very short notice.

Salford are due to open the Championship season with a home game against Oldham on Friday 16 January, which is almost exactly one month away.

The backers of the new club, whoever they are, won’t have a minute to lose in putting together a squad and employing a coach.

The RFL received full submissions by a deadline of last Thursday and will assess each before a final decision is made once the RFL Board has met.

One of the three submissions has come from a consortium involving Chris Irwin, the former chief executive of the wound-up club, while another is being headed by ex-Salford player Mason Caton-Brown.

The third is believed to be led by Tracy Atiga, although this bid has not been publicly launched.

Following the submission, Irwin released a statement saying he would support whichever bid was ultimately successful.

“Our application provides a bold vision for the future of professional Rugby League in the city of Salford, a bold vision that ensures that Salford Rugby League can thrive for the next 152 years and beyond,” said Irwin.

“The future of our historic club is now in the custody of the RFL. We have every faith that our application is strong in every respect. However, our ultimate concern is that there is a Salford team for fans to cheer, children to aspire to play for and to be a foundation stone to our communities.

“In this vein, if there is an application stronger than our own then we will be there to support it wholeheartedly. This club will never die.”

Caton-Brown’s bid is being supported by Malcolm Crompton, the former chairman of the Forever Reds Supporters Trust, businessman Paul Hancock and local technology entrepreneur Ashley Washington, while the founder of online marketplace OnBuy.com has also joined as a strategic partner.

That makes it look like a financially strong bidder, although I don’t have the details of the funds that those parties have committed to the project.

Caton-Brown, himself a former Salford player, told BBC Radio Manchester that his group had a head coach and string of players ready to join should they get the nod to take Salford’s licence.

“We’ve got a coach lined up and he’s really enthusiastic and ready to go,” said Caton-Brown.

“He’s been working, he’s been talking to players as well.

“Should we be successful we can make those agreements concrete with the players and I’m really confident we can get a full squad out for our first game.”

I honestly don’t know who will get the nod, but I just hope that whoever it is, they will be able to put out a competitive team to face Oldham at the Salford Community Stadium next month.

My gripe with the Championship fixtures

In this week’s League Express, my colleague James Gordon has written a ‘Straight Talking’ article in which he criticises the structure of the Championship fixture list that has been created for next season.

I have my own gripes about the fixture list, but not the ones he sets out.

Instead, my question is why has the RFL scheduled next year’s Championship Grand Final for 4th October, the day after the Super League Grand Final.

What was the governing body thinking of?

Wouldn’t it have been a good idea to schedule the Championship Grand Final for the following weekend, or even later in October, so that the Championship could have the stage to itself for a few weeks after the end of the Super League season.?

As it is, we’ll have the Championship play-offs taking place at the same time as the Super League play-offs and being completely overshadowed.

The Super League Grand Final is being played early next year because of the need to send an England team to the World Cup in Australia.

But that doesn’t apply to Championship teams.

If the Grand Final had been taken to a later date, we wouldn’t then have had the Championship season beginning half way through January, which is a ridiculous time to start a season.

I just wish that the RFL could think about fixtures a little more creatively.

Gradings system retreats

The gradings system introduced in 2022 by IMG seems to be finally in retreat.

That element of the gradings score that was allocated to a club’s catchment area has effectively been thrown out and the maximum 1.5 points that a club gained under this heading will now be re-allocated to the categories of performance and finance.

My reaction is that such a change is better late than never, but it doesn’t go far enough.

I think the whole idea of gradings determining which competition a club plays in is ridiculous.

And that doesn’t mean that I think it’s a bad thing to measure clubs’ achievements across a range of criteria.

If clubs are going to be rewarded for high scores in all the various categories that underpin the gradings scorecard, in my view they should be linked to the distribution that clubs receive from the current broadcasting deal.

I don’t see any sensible alternative.

Nathan Cleary

Perhaps the most surprising story of last week, and certainly the most surprising photograph, was to see NRL superstar Nathan Cleary helping out after turning up unannounced to assist at the Atherton and Leigh Foodbank, where he “packed bags and got involved with all aspects of our work,” according to that organisation.

Cleary, who had stayed in England after the Ashes to be with his girlfriend, the Manchester City player Mary Fowler, was photographed carrying bags full of food while also working off a clipboard. He also posed for some selfies with the clientele.

The organisers posted three photos of Nathan with a message saying: “We had an extra volunteer today.

“Nathan Cleary, star of Penrith Panthers and Australian Kangaroos, called to see us and insisted on doing a shift, packing bags and getting involved with all aspects of our work.

“Thanks for your help today Nathan, you made a real difference and helped people facing hardship to stay well fed.”

What a fine young bloke!