It’s time for a serious discussion – and serious governance – about the Championship

It’s been easy to be distracted by the bright lights and promise of huge investment from the NRL into Super League. We’ve all arguably been guilty of it – and the discussion has been intense over a prolonged period of time.

Which has left it fairly easy to overlook the somewhat sobering elephant in the rugby league room. If you’re a fan of a Championship club, not least one of the growing number that has been impacted by financial issues over the last year or so, you’ll be well aware of where this is going.

You don’t exactly need to tell Featherstone Rovers fans, who are still some ten months away from seeing their side play a competitive game again – at best – that the Championship is in peril. Ditto for Halifax Panthers supporters, who have at least managed to get back on the field this year.

But the health of the sport’s second tier has been dragged kicking and screaming into view again this week with North Wales Crusaders’ owners not only failing to pay their players, but now revealing they will be pulling funding with immediate effect. There are grave concerns behind the scenes about whether they will make it through 2026.

It is at this point worth mentioning not all clubs have hit issues like North Wales, Featherstone and Halifax – among others. There are clubs like Goole and Hunslet – there are others – who live within their means and operate prudently, and pride themselves on it. Title contenders? Of course not: but they aren’t going anywhere in terms of financial oblivion.

Owners like Steve Neale at Barrow are also huge assets for the sport outside Super League. A man who has consistently run his club well and funded it to boot; whatever the changing landscape in rugby league may be, there is always a place for clubs like Barrow, and owners like Neale.

But there is now a desperate need for reform and stronger governance of the second tier. North Wales’ possible demise is not the tipping point; we are long past that. But it is another stark reminder that clubs need tighter control from an authoritative and strong governing body at the very least.

A salary cap is without doubt the first port of call there. You do not have to do too much digging to learn of utterly eye-watering salaries being offered out by some clubs that have already been mentioned here, salaries that simply do not stack up against the shrivelling revenue and income Championship clubs can muster. Players earning £50,000 per year to train twice a week and play once. It is sheer lunacy.

If the clubs cannot be trusted to spend responsibly and sustainably, then they must have that temptation taken away from them. A salary cap with a relatively modest ceiling – £300,000 to £400,000 – but with exemptions that would allow clubs to spend above if they can prove to the RFL they have the funds available is a salient way to at least start to tackle some of these problems.

But you wonder whether it should stop there. As the NRL-Super League deal appears to near a breakthrough moment, is there possible merit in a route a couple of Championship clubs are already pursuing: deeper-forged partnerships with top-flight teams?

It would not go down universally well with clubs who have genuine Super League aspirations, and the prospect of using a term like ‘feeder clubs’ would send some into a spiral, no doubt. But mutually beneficial partnerships between clubs could have their place in an ever-evolving rugby league landscape.

York have started it with Newcastle. You do not have to be a rocket scientist to see that Leeds and Hunslet have strong links with the Rhinos players heading there on temporary deals. Others are going to follow.

Australian rugby league has a similar deal with many of its New South Wales and Queensland Cup teams doubling up as developmental teams, partner clubs or feeder teams – however you want to dress it up – and still having a healthy position in the ecosystem Down Under.

Clubs like Wynnum Manly Seagulls, Norths Devils, Mackay Cutters and Redcliffe Dolphins to name but four have their own established supporter bases, they provide pathways opportunities for younger players and as a result, they are financially looked after by their affiliate NRL team. Yes, they have a deal with NRL teams, but they also have their own identity, and they compete for silverware in their own right every single season.

It doesn’t have to be mandatory – but the very fact some teams are looking at purchasing or investing into Championship teams tells you it could be a possibility.

Would it be so disastrous for that situation in Australia to repeat itself here? For Championship clubs to link up geographically with Super League teams, get the benefit of their younger or fringe players, allow their own players to play Super League reserve rugby on free weekends and perhaps get a financial kick that preserves their future?

With the promise of the NRL covering Super League salary cap costs, there could be scope for slightly more – not lots, because it simply doesn’t need to be lots with a Championship salary cap in place – money to be re-routed down the pyramid. It does feel like if the NRL deal comes off, there should be some sort of sustainable framework put in place for the second tier.

The Championship is integral to rugby league’s future. The clubs and the players underpin the whole system, giving those who aren’t quite ready a chance to play at a decent level before possibly going to Super League. In contrast, they also allow players whose time in Super League has passed to continue playing.

With some stronger governance, and a more open-minded approach to where our second tier clubs sit, there is a way through. But right now, too many clubs are sailing so close to the wind that continuing in this fashion would be disastrous.