Top NRL pundit calls for Super League to revert to winter as Hull KR idea floated

Aaron Bower
Bevan French Wigan Warriors Alamy

Could Super League switch to a winter sport? That's the idea from one pundit.

Leading NRL pundit and former Wigan Warriors half-back Matty Johns has endorsed the takeover of Super League – but has gone a step further and suggested the competition should switch back to winter.

Talks are ongoing about a potential deal for the NRL to invest in Super League, with reports of a 33 per cent shareholding being discussed on the proviso it gives Australian powerbrokers control of Super League’s destiny.

Those talks could yet lead to a deal, with a plethora of top pundits on both sides of the globe adding their thoughts to the situation.

And Johns, speaking on the Joel & Fletch show, has thrown his weight behind the idea of a takeover. However, he now thinks that the best move would be for Super League to mirror Australia and be played in the winter.

That would enable, in Johns’ view, the best players in both competitions to be able to play all year round in Super League and the NRL – gaining English rugby league huge exposure.

Johns said: “I think it’d be great for Super League. I actually think it’d be very good for the NRL. But I think there’s one thing they have to do and it’s a big, big move – and there will be resistance.

“If the NRL were talking about purchasing Super League and then getting a majority shareholding, I would actually seriously look at putting the English game back to a winter game.

“Their best players can come and play in our competition, and our best players can go and have guest stints over there if they’d like.”

Johns then used the example of one of the NRL’s top stars, Tom Trbojevic, potentially coming to England for a stint with one of Super League’s top clubs, Hull KR, before pointing to his own family experience of his brother Andrew’s iconic spell at Warrington.

He said: “It’s a very different game these days in terms of the professionalism, but you think about this. Let’s imagine Manly get knocked out of the competition and halfway through the season, Tom Trbojevic goes and plays four games for Hull KR.

“Joey went to Warrington and had a three-game stint and a bloke showed me on YouTube or TikTok a 15-minute thing on Andrew being there.. it was incredible. There was national interest when he went there, when he went to Warrington.

“They’ve got a bit to work out but I think it would be a great move.”

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