THE purpose of an independent panel which will be used to select the 13th and 14th teams in Super League is primarily to avoid a repeat of the Salford debacle.
That’s was the contention of Warrington CEO Karl Fitzpatrick on Sky Sports before his team’s clash with the Leopards at Leigh Sports Village.
The competition’s clubs announced on Monday they would go from 12 to 14 teams in 2026, with the first 12 teams determined by IMG points but the rest ruled upon by a panel chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine.
Salford have had a chaotic and disastrous change of ownership this year. Despite being approved to compete in the elite competition, they’ve had monthly trouble paying players and were beaten 74-12 by Hull KR on Thursday night.
“During this period, we’ve seen happened at Salford, OK?” Fitzpatrick said when asked why two different systems were being used to determine the make-up of next year’s competition.
“So, therefore, the financial element of the IMG grading criteria is probably – probably – not thorough enough.
“Therefore, we hope that this panel that is chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine is able to wash out any sort of financial concern that they have with any club that applies.
“If Lord Caine and his panel believe that there’s no two clubs that are able to bring value to the Super League competition, or they’re not financially sustainable, they won’t come up.”
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