Talks between the NRL and Super League about a deal have ramped up\u00a0further this week, with Abdo \u00adflying to England to speak about how feasible a deal may be. Any \u00adsuccessful investment would be significant for Super League, who would \u00adessentially cede administrative control to the\u00a0NRL in return.<\/p>\n
Abdo said London Broncos would be central to the NRL\u2019s vision and insisted no deal is possible without the clubs currently giving up the power they have in the British game. The NRL is run by an independent commission but in Super League club owners have almost all the power.<\/p>\n
Quick GuideCartwright stands down at Hull FCShow![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/4843.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Hull FC have announced that head coach John Cartwright has stepped down from his duties with immediate effect. <\/p>\n
Cartwright had indicated after Thursday night\u2019s 24-14 defeat to St Helens that his future was set to be thrashed out in a series of meetings early next week.<\/p>\n
However, Hull said in a statement on Friday that Cartwright will be replaced by his assistant Andy Last, with former Catalans Dragons coach and FC player Steve McNamara stepping in on a permanent basis for the start of next season.<\/p>\n
The statement read: \u201cHull FC can confirm that John Cartwright has stepped away from his day-to-day duties as head coach with immediate effect. John remains an employee of Hull FC, and the Club would like to place on record its sincere thanks for his efforts during his time as Head Coach at Hull FC.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cartwright was cheered by home fans during and after Thursday night\u2019s defeat, after the club made the unpopular announcement last week that they would not be renewing his contract at the end of the season.<\/p>\n
Cartwright had said he felt \u201cbetrayed and disrespected\u201d by the move, adding after the game with Saints that he \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d if he would see out his deal in charge. PA Media<\/p>\n
Photograph: Martin Rickett\/PA<\/p>\n
Thank you for your feedback.<\/p>\n
With the prospect of a global broadcast deal for both competitions also a possibility if the NRL had administrative control, Abdo has opened a discussion about Super League switching back to a winter season for the first time since 1996 in order to allow the NRL to sell rights all year round.<\/p>\n
When asked if it was an option, Abdo told the Guardian: \u201cIt\u2019s a really good question. These are the things that need to be worked out. And the thing is there are clear pros and cons for it in both cases. Obviously playing in the summer here like Super League does, you\u2019re not clashing with the hugely popular Premier League.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut equally, creating a global calendar is pretty compelling. So as I say, there are pros and cons. That\u2019s not something we really have a fixed view on yet though. Those are the things that need to be worked out. But ultimately the answer will be: what is going to be what our customers want and what\u2019s going to service our existing fans and help us win new ones.\u201d<\/p>\n
No formal offer has been \u00adsubmitted yet, with Abdo and the NRL likely to return next month to speak with clubs in more detail. However, he has warned those clubs must relinquish control in order to convince the NRL\u00a0to part with their riches and to allow the sport to flourish under the leadership of a newly-formed independent commission that the NRL would have a major say in.<\/p>\n
Paul Newlove of St Helens on the ball against Workington in December 1995. Four months later, the inaugural Super League season began. Photograph: Mike Brett\/Popperfoto\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
In return for that, Super League club owners \u2013 who collectively are losing almost \u00a320m per year \u2013 would\u00a0gain access to riches the competition has never seen before, which would almost certainly cover the cost of the salary cap for all clubs and allow them to reinvest their own wealth in other areas.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think you definitely need the ability to have independent decision-making,\u201d Abdo added. \u201cSo yes, there would need to be a governance change if we were going to become partners in the game here. There needs to be separation between allowing an independent governing body to make those tough calls.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NRL is a huge advocate of London being centrally positioned in the game, and are even weighing up the prospect of bringing major Australian fixtures to the city themselves. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Abdo has endorsed the need for a strong London-based club in Super League to be part of their vision if an agreement can be finalised.<\/p>\n
\u201cLondon offers a lot for the game,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s a diverse community. It has many of the aspects that we think can bring a whole other dimension to the game. I think having a London team in the Super League is going to add a whole other dimension in terms of acquisition of fans, acquisition of sponsors. I think it\u2019ll benefit the league if it\u2019s done appropriately and executed well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abdo will now return his findings to the NRL board and Australian clubs before any offer is placed, but he accepted that with Super League\u2019s broadcast deal with Sky Sports \u00adexpiring at the end of this season, there are time sensitivities attached to any potential deal \u2013 especially with the prospect of the NRL globalising its own TV rights.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe objective is to grow the game and globalise it and broadcasting is how you reach people,\u201d he said. \u201cBroadcast is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle and we\u2019re at a critical stage in relation to the rights cycle. If we are going to do something together, then it\u2019s really important we\u2019re able to influence the growth of the game. That needs to happen over the course of the next few weeks and months.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Super League could move back to a winter competition to allow year-round global broadcasting of rugby league if…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536124,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-536123","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536123","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536123"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536123\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536123"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536123"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536123"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}