TITA: Super Dooper League

Most rugby league fans have an opinion on how the sport at the highest level should be run. I'm no different and I have my own view on it. This post will detail my own vision for professional rugby league, not just for Europe, but for the entire world.

Let's start at the top and work our way down the leagues, shall we?



Super League has been the test bed for so many innovations over the years. Some have worked, many have fallen flat on their arses. Franchising is a good idea in principle, but there are many things that need ironing out. Keeping a semi-open shop and transparency in franchise applications amongst them.

So here is my idea for Super League. I'll pre-empt this with a warning. I'll be using clubs as examples only, so please don't come at me saying your club deserves a higher placing than I give it.

Firstly, we need to split the Super League into two smaller divisions. We could do the whole American 'East-West conference' way, but I think there's a much better solution.

In simple terms, we need a Super League 1 and a Super League 2. Super League 1 would be the top division, with the 10 best clubs in it. There would be full salary cap and quota rules. Super League 2 would be the next 10 best teams and they would operate with three quarters of the salary cap and three quarters of the quota rules. This would allow for a much smaller leap between the two divisions. Here's how it would work:

Super League 1


Leeds Rhinos
Warrington Wolves
Wigan Warriors
St Helens
Catalan Dragons
Huddersfield Giants
Hull FC
Castleford Tigers
Bradford Bulls
Widnes Vikings

Team one, in this case, Leeds Rhinos would be champions. No end of season play offs, just a straight out league comp. Each team would play each other twice, meaning a league season comprising of 18 games per season.

The top four teams would enter into the end of season 'champions league' style competition. This will be the top four from SL1 and the top four from the NRL. The host country would alternate, with England hosting the fixtures in year one, Australia in year two, and so on. It would be a straight knockout competition with SL v NRL in week one. These games will be played at the home ground of the team in the host country. So Warrington v Manly in year one would be held at the Halliwell Jones.

Week two would be a semi final double header, played at a neutral stadium with a large capacity (25k+). Each game would be played on the same day in the same stadium, with 'day' tickets on sale, rather than just a single match.

Week three would be the final. This will be played at Old Trafford, Wembley, ANZ (Sydney) or Suncorp (Brisbane). The winner of this comp would be declared as world champions.

At the other end of the table, the bottom placed club would enter a play off competition with the top three teams in SL2. The winner of this play off series would take the final SL1 spot the following season. The bottom team in SL1 and the third team in SL2 would play away from home, while the top two from SL2 would play at home in week one. The winners of this round would face each other in the P&R decider at a neutral venue. During the years that the champions league was played in the UK, this final could form a triple header with the semi finals of that comp.

Super League 2


A second league of, initially, 10 teams, although this could be expanded in future years, whereas SL would stick with 10. All new innovations must be tested in SL2 for an entire season before being implemented in SL1.

Wakefield Wildcats
Hull KR
London Broncos
Halifax FC
Salford City Reds
Featherstone Rovers
A N Other 1
A N Other 2
A N Other 3
A N Other 4

As previously discussed, teams one, two and three would face a play off against the bottom side in SL1 for the final spot in SL1 the following year. The team that finished top would be the champions, with the play off series determining promotion and relegation only.

This is also where franchising would come into play. Any new franchises will have to start in this league and work their own way up to SL1, via the P&R system. This league will be subject to franchise applications every 3 years and that would work in the following way:

•  Publicly viewable franchise points system, where clubs and fans alike can view their progress and see what they need to do to avoid being stripped of their franchise. 
• Over the three year period, the bottom three clubs in the franchise system would have to go up against the top three applicants from the lower leagues. The highest points scorers would stay in SL2, the remaining three would be put in the lower leagues.
• Any team which stays in the bottom three during two concurrent franchise application periods (so 6 years) would automatically have their franchise revoked and be relegated to the lower leagues.
• Any team entering into administration would automatically be demoted to the league below it, while continuing to field a team for it's remaining fixtures (penalties for not adhering to that would be a demotion of 2 leagues and banishment from franchise applications for 3-6 years)

Other Stats

SL1 would have a full £1.6m salary cap

SL2 would have a 75% salary cap

SL1 would have a quota allocation of 4 overseas players (any nationality)

SL2 would have a quota allocation of 3 overseas players (any nationality)

SL1 would require a minimum of 10 home grown players

SL2 would require a minimum of 12 home grown players

There would be no grandparent rule in either league. Nationality is determined by the nationality of either the player, or their parents on passports. No dispensation will be allowed for any player, or any club, in any way.

Challenge Cup

This would be expanded, to help fill the void by the reduced league season. A full expansion into European teams also. A European club ranking system would be created and entry would be dependant on a clubs' ranking on this list. SL1 teams will play one round more than currently and SL2 teams would enter the round before this.

The cup proper would have to be about 8 rounds, with 2 or 3 preliminary rounds between very low yield amateur clubs. Somewhere in the region of 2-300 teams could enter the competition at some point though.

The semi final would be held at a neutral venue and would form a triple header, sandwiching the Northern Rail Cup final. These 3 games could easily sell out a 40k+ stadium.

Northern Rail Cup

This would be played by teams in the new Championship and Championship 1. In addition, any teams not involved in the SL2 P&R play offs the previous season would also play in this competition. The final would be played in the middle of the Challenge Cup semi final fixtures at a large neutral venue.

Internationals

The RL World Cup would be held every 4 years, alternating between Northern and Southern hemisphere hosts (For example, in 2014, 2018 and 2022.

In every other year, the four nations would take place, with alternating hosts once again. No team would be immune in this competition like Eng, Aus and NZ are now. The bottom team each year would not be allowed to participate the following year. They would be replaced by the winners of the European international comps, or the Oceania international comp, depending on the host nation that year.

One weekend during the season would be set aside for international fixtures. No league games will take part on this weekend.

Championships

Pretty much as they are now. P&R between the two leagues, and even P&R to regional conferences below them too.

Newly formed clubs can enter the the league system at no higher than Championship One. This means that no new franchise clubs will be fast-tracked in the higher leagues. They will have to start at the bottom.

New franchising applications will only be considered if the team currently plays in the higher of the two Championship leagues. Any new applications will have to tick one or more of the following boxes in the previous three year period:

• Appeared in a Championship final
• Appeared in a Challenge Cup quarter final
• Appeared in a NRC final
• Have a higher score in the franchise league table than the bottom three in the SL2 franchises

That's a fairly in-depth view of it. Hopefully the people at the top of the RFL could implement some of the changes (and give me a cash bonus for it).

But what do you think? Is it a good idea? Would you change any of it? Add something to it? Take something away? The comments section is always there for your opinion