Peter V’landys drops hint Super League and NRL deal could be close

ARLC supremo Peter V’landys has dropped the clearest hint yet that a partnership between the NRL and Super League could be closer than ever.

Talks have been ongoing between the two competitions for almost a year, dating back to last year’s historic Las Vegas games that saw Super League involved in the event for the first time.

Multiple options have been on and off the table, with a variety of reports ranging from NRL investment into Super League to the Australian competition taking a controlling stake in the direction of the British game.

V’landys, speaking to Sky Sports this week in the run-up to the 2026 Vegas matches, has insisted any relationship between the two leagues has the full backing of the NRL clubs, who are ‘very supportive’ of plans to invest into Super League.

And he insists all parties are better prepared to strike up a deal now after further research into how the NRL can develop the British game.

He said: “The NRL clubs are very supportive because they can see the need to have rugby league as a global game, and the need to have Super League being very vibrant.

“They can see the big picture. We’ve come back, we’ve done some modelling, we’ve done some analytical work to see how we can help and what we need to do.

“So, we’re in a better position now than we were when we met with the Super League clubs and Nigel Wood last year.”

V’landys then revealed more discussions will be held over the coming weeks – and that he feels if several details are ironed out, it will leave Super League and the RFL happy with the finer points over any partnership or investment.

He said: We’ll have more discussions in the next few weeks.

“There’s a few little variables which we need to get right, which I can’t go into because they’re commercially sensitive, but if we get those right, I think we could be in a position that Super League would be happy with.”

V’landys also shot down any suggestion that Super League clubs could effectively become feeder teams for NRL powerhouses – insisting there are parts of the sport that European teams can offer strength in to advise Australian clubs.

“I don’t think they’re a feeder club, we’re looking at brother and sister,” he said. “We’re looking at feeding the Super League, bringing some of our junior talent over here.

“It’s never going to be a one-way street, it’s a two-way street, it’s a partnership. We want some of those clubs in Australia that are very successful to be mentors to the clubs in Super League, and vice versa.

“There’s a few clubs in England that could assist us! We don’t need a feeder club, we don’t need to tap into players. We’d like to assist in giving some of our juniors there to increase the skill level and abilities.”