THE NRL may or may not take a financial stake in the Betfred Super League. The NRL’s clubs are, however, already starting to plant flags in the Northern Hemisphere.
Following on from Penrith Panthers recently extending their partnership with Betfred Championship York Knights to include Betfred League One outfit Newcastle Thunder, last week saw Hull KR and North Queensland Cowboys announce their own link-up.
Immediately, and inevitably, it fuelled rumours that the likes of head coach Willie Peters and reigning Man of Steel Mikey Lewis would be leaving East Hull for Townsville. Yet Robins chief executive Paul Lakin insisted first-team player or coach movement is not on the agenda for either team.
- Warrington Wolves’ Karl Fitzpatrick on a 14-team Super League, NRL Europe and more
- Castleford Tigers head coach Danny McGuire opens up on anguish of Leeds Rhinos exit
- Subscribe to rugbyleaguehub.com on YouTube
“If there’s movement between players, it’s more likely to be at a younger level,” Lakin told BBC Radio Humberside.
“An opportunity for players in their squad – they consider Super League to be above the North Queensland Cup grade, which it definitely is, but below the NRL, which I think it is also. They want one or two of their squad players to possibly get gametime over here and there maybe opportunity for one or two of our younger players.
“We will take our academy players out to North Queensland Cowboys, probably even next year, and that’s a key element of the partnership because they’ve got a fantastic performance centre.
“They’ve got a hotel on site that they’re happy to accommodate our academy lads, so there are all sorts of opportunities, and there are lots of opportunities for our staff overall because we are looking at doing some job-swaps if possible.”
There are a couple of points to note here. The first is it affirms the view NRL clubs see Super League as little more than a step – albeit the top one – on the development rung for their own players, the place you go to fine-tune your skills before stepping up to the big show.
The second is related to Lakin’s point about movement at academy level. Because as much as the Cowboys might like to have Mikey Lewis, what they really want is access to the player with the potential to be the next Mikey Lewis.
This is so they can get them into their system early and develop them as their own in the same way Brisbane Broncos did with now-Dolphins and England international back Herbie Farnworth.
It’s why Penrith’s link-up with York and now Newcastle might prove to be a masterstroke as well, because it has given them a pipeline into two areas which are on the periphery of rugby league’s English heartland yet have arguably been overlooked by those running the sport here.
That has left the Panthers to swoop in and start developing their own men’s and women’s player base from which they can pick the best and brightest prospects, with no competition from Super League clubs.
It is also a worth emphasising that any formal link-up between the NRL and Super League would reportedly see the Australian competition wanting a 33 percent stake plus full administrative control, which would put them in a powerful position over the elite end of the English, and European, game.
And why not? The job of Peter V’landys and Andrew Abdo is to look out for the interests of the NRL and if they can do so by taking control of the only other full-time professional competition in the world then they absolutely should. Because, as much as they might collaborate on certain things, Super League is still a competitor – and the Northern Hemisphere competition should view the NRL as such, too.
On that point, it is interesting to note is Lakin revealed the Cowboys went to the NRL before agreeing this partnership to ask if it would complicate any possible investment in Super League, although he added it wasn’t completed with that in mind.
“That wasn’t the idea,” Lakin said. “The idea was very much about learning from best in practice and best in the world in terms of the NRL.
“The Cowboys spoke to the NRL about this potential partnership just to check it wouldn’t be an issue if anything did happen between the NRL and Super League, which it hasn’t at the moment.
“It may happen going forwards, but genuinely the original intention was just to share best practice and look at, across all levels and all departments, how we can use the partnership to each others’ benefit.”
Lakin, who has a background in the cut-throat world of professional football, is undoubtedly one of the most effective Super League executives around having overseen Hull KR’s transformation off the field in recent years, and is unlikely to let whoever replaces opposite number Jeff Reibel at the Cowboys after this season take advantage of them.
Nevertheless, those who are apparently willing to simply roll out the red carper for the NRL with few questions asked should be careful what they wish for. Because they might just get it.