By IAN BOLDSWORTH
THERE we go. Tick another year off and look ahead to a new one.
Although, let’s be honest – and without dealing in spoilers – it will be more of the same in rugby league. We’ll still have supporters believing it will be their year because they’ve won a “friendly on ice”.
People will shout for their coach to be sacked before the end of February. Oh, and there is bound to be some sort of scandal right before the season kicks off.
Thus it always was and thus it shall remain. At time of writing, one of those has already been ticked.
For all that predictability, however, there is an ongoing shake up within the game that can’t go off without note. Regardless of what happens re the three-team expansion/four new names, how it all pans out will be known very soon.
Will it be cricket scores taking up column inches every week, as predicted by many? Or will Super League look the same but with more air miles accrued?
It remains to be seen, although it’s a pretty safe bet that supporters of every club are going to be seeing plenty of names on the margins of our squads get a low-pressure run-out, the only happy by-product of frankly daft domestic expansion in a World Cup year.
At a purely romantic and nostalgic level, it is heartwarming to see Bradford Bulls back on the fixture list. We are regularly told there’s no room for sentiment in sport (another daft saying), but for those of us who were drawn into competition and rivalry with the Bulls back in the good old days, the prospect of a trip to Odsal after so long, is a welcome trip down memory lane.
As a bonus, the last time most of us visited what is now known as Bartercard Odsal Stadium was pre-smartphones and fitness trackers, so we’ll also have the added reward of nailing our steps for the day in a fruitless effort to find a decent spot to see the game in the distance.
Don’t forget, those uphill steps on the full-time escape to civilisation count for more too.
Much like searching for an ex from school on social media, though, I fear the reality will be unable to match the nostalgia. Once we’ve got over the goosebumps of seeing the Sky graphic declaring Bradford versus Leeds for the first time in forever, or hearing ground announcers welcome the long-estranged gladiators back into the… let’s call it an ‘arena’ for the sake of this… I rather suspect we shall be waiting a little while longer to see the old clashes reborn.
Cynically, other than random lightning strikes in high summer, I fear we never will. As things stand, we already have teams who have actually been in Super League year to year since the Bradford debacle, now getting dramatically left behind.
There are only so many members of coaching staff you can chuck under the bus before being found out. What chance clubs who have had six months to prepare after a sudden call-up to the top flight?
An even more gloomy and sinister shadow looms over the revolving door this year, as Bradford are reborn in the exact same era as the Salfordian pretenders to the poisoned chalice learnt their fate. Not one of us wanted to read the news that the club had ceased to exist, and we’ll all be happy to see them take to the field again, no matter how that looks. Have they got a kit yet by the way? Or will they be doing it in their pants?
It would have been an abject tragedy for the Reds to be finished completely, not just for the lack of the team from Salford but also the disappearance of their noisily faithful fans.
That they still have their club to support is brilliant news (and a minor miracle). There’s not a club in Super League who wouldn’t be delighted to meet them again in the Challenge Cup.
Furthermore, for all the unjust mockery of Ryan Brierley’s installation as chief executive officer, he is exactly the talisman a new Salford RLFC needs. After a year of shadowy, behind-the-scenes machinations, obtuse social media statements and utter neglect, to have a figurehead so imbued with the fan base is a masterstroke.
The timing of them departing and Bradford swanning back through the doors however, is jarring. We can – and should – celebrate the Bulls being back on their feet, but the same thing that happened to them has just happened to Salford and indeed Featherstone in the Championship.
Decades later, zero lessons ticked off as ‘learned’. There are mixed messages aplenty there, which is one of the many problematic issues with going all-in on the grading systems.
Simply musing over and selecting the participants of a league, rather than basing it on the fight for on-field promotion based on achievements in the tables, sends a message that you just have to wait it out. Get yourselves a flashing advertising board and enough social media followers in the meantime and you’re in the gang again.
Still, it would be great to see any of our four new comrades upset the applecart in 2026.
The joyous re-entry of Wakefield – who clearly came to play and will likely step on again – was a highlight of 2025, much like the splash that the rebranded Leigh Leopards made a few years previous.
It feels so long ago now when we all vicariously enjoyed their unlikely success, rather than tutting every time they engaged in another tacky stunt or forgot their Twitter password, as they appeared to have done in the first week of 2026.
In all, despite huge doubts over the new structure and how it will technically play out, my only prediction would be for a year of great narratives in the top tier. So many teams are in tentative times, on and off the pitch.
How will the new teams go? Will KR come close to a repeat? Are Saints/Secret Salford gonna be a divided team? Can Wigan recover their confidence? Is another organisational collapse imminent? Will it be you know-who’s year, at last?
There’s one way to find out… let’s hope the new season delivers.