By STEVE MASCORD
DECORATED sports administrator and Gateshead Thunder pioneer Mick Hogan has issued a warning about York and Toulouse’s Super League funding: “We are setting them up to fail.”
Hogan, a consultant right now to World Rugby and former CEO at Wigan, Sale rugby union club and executive director at Newcastle Falcons, has worked on league and union World Cups.
He was just a young development officer when Aussie administrator Shane Richardson brought the Thunder to Super League in 1999 on about a third of the funding other clubs received.
“It was never enough,” Hogan tells rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads.
“History repeats itself, doesn’t it? Next year you’ve got teams 13 and 14, York and Toulouse … you set yourself up for failure.”
The Knights and Olympique will receive £650,000 in 2026, compares to the £1.3 million from central funding that goes to the other 12 clubs. The following year they have been promised a full share.
The £650,000 deficit, says Hogan, is “money they could be investing in pathways, marketing, coaching – not to mention the squad. If you gave each of them double the money, those two teams would find it tough enough.
“Then you compare that to how the Australians do it. I know, the sport has a far higher profile over there, so they can command more money off sponsors, TV and even regional government. But I remember when Melbourne Storm came in.”
Melbourne played in the NRL’s inaugural season, 1998.
“Melbourne were bankrolled by News, so they were never going to fail because they ran out cash,” said Hogan.
“…whereas Thunder, in their first year missed out on the top five playoffs by a point. That was in a 14 team competition as well.
“Yeah the crowds could have been a bit better early on but they got bigger as the season went on. We missed out of a play off spot because we lost to London Broncos away and drew at home and London Broncos weren’t great that year. Had we just got one win there, we’d have been in the play-offs;
“So we got it right on the field. Off the field, it needed more investment. If we’d had the funding of the other teams we could have had more staff, better marketing and enhanced the fan experience.
“But instead we were behind the eight ball from the opening kick off. New clubs need more not less money.
“Let’s learn as a sport from the mistakes made over 25 years ago and not repeat them.
“If we can’t afford 14 teams in the top flight then why are we having that number? To just get rid of loop fixtures is not a good enough answer.”
Gateshead merged with Hull after one year and were reborn as a stand-alone club in 2001.
They were taken over but rugby union’s Falcons in 2015 but that ownership model subsequently collapsed and the Thunder finished the bottom of League 1 with no victories this year.