Super League would not become a feeder competition to the NRL should an investment deal be struck, the competition’s CEO Andrew Abdo has said.
Abdo is in England at the moment negotiating with the higher-ups of UK rugby league to see if the NRL can invest in Super League and the wider game.
Many see NRL funding and, more importantly, their expertise as a lifeline, whilst others claim NRL investment would leave Super League drained of talent with Leeds Rhinos owner Paul Caddick questioning the Australian competition’s motives.
Per a BBC report, Caddick said: “If Australia takes value out of the English game, the gap will only get bigger and we will only become subservient to them, which I would never agree to sign up to,” with his staunch opposition highlighting the need for a formal offer to be placed so details can be worked through.
Responding to Caddick’s comments, Abdo told the BBC: “I certainly understand that in the absence of information, people sometimes default to the negative.
“But certainly, the fears of the Super League becoming a feeder league to the NRL couldn’t be further away from the hypothesis of why we’re doing this.”
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In Abdo’s mind, the NRL are considering investment to try and ensure rugby league in the UK and Europe is ‘as strong as possible’, adding: “That’s the exact opposite of it becoming a feeder pathway program.
“We’re doing this to grow and to attract players in this market from other codes and to make sure that there’s good investment in pathways to produce even stronger talent for the competition here, for it to thrive.”
Abdo was again asked about the prospect of Super League owners having to cede control to allow for an NRL-style independent commission that runs the competition, as opposed to individual club owners.
He argued that any deal was dependent on gaining ‘assurances that we can actually have the ability to implement the gameplan’, adding that it wasn’t necessarily about giving up control but on having ‘clarity and autonomy of decision-making’.
“In order for us to be able to invest you absolutely need strong and clear governance and I think that’s part of the challenge that exists at the moment – so that’s something that we’re obviously working on.”
He also put heed to reports that Super League could return to a winter sport, noting that it was ‘theoretically possible’ but ‘not a short-term consideration’.
