RFL boss Nigel Wood has confirmed NRL investment into Super League remains an option ‘on the table’, with claims of a strained relationship between the game’s two leading governing bodies strongly dismissed.
Supremo Peter V’landys, the Chair of the Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC), recently flew over to London alongside NRL CEO Andrew Abdo.
The pair held talks with senior Super League and RFL officials to discuss possible investment into the European competition, a topic which has made the headlines for well over 12 months now.
V’landys insisted there needs to be ‘structural corporate governance change’ in the British game before any investment takes place, and even went as far as saying that Super League was heading for a ‘train crash’ as it expands to 14 teams, unless additional revenue can be found from a broadcast deal.
But Wood – who was appointed as the RFL’s Senior Executive Director in Spring – has played down the belief that relations with the ARLC are torn in a feature length interview with BBC Sport.
‘It’s rugby league versus the rest of sport, really’
Nothing concrete has emerged on the back of last month’s talks with V’landys and Abdo, which took place on the eve of the first Rugby League Ashes Series in 22 years between England and Australia.
Speaking to the BBC, Wood – who is also the Chair of RL Commercial – insisted ‘it’s important that the two leagues collaborate as fully as possible’.
The RFL boss insisted: “There’s no real issue between the RFL and the NRL.
“We both want what’s best for rugby league, and obtaining a greater understanding of the collaboration that’s available is vital to all parties.
“It’s not the RFL versus the NRL, it’s rugby league versus the rest of sport, really.”
He later added that any possible investment would need ‘a lot of careful thought’, but felt there were still advantages of working alongside the NRL, which continues to grow both in status in the wider sporting world as well as revenues.
“It needs a lot of careful thought,” said Wood, before going on to make a bold claim about the current state of the British game.
“Rugby league in this country is not on its knees. It’s got the strongest ownership group that I can ever remember.
“I think the advantage of a relationship with the NRL is that everybody should be coming to the table trying to get the same outcome, which is for rugby league to be in the strongest possible position in a crowded global sports marketplace.
“The challenge with private equity is that there’s a more hard-nosed commercial imperative. So instinctively you would think a ‘sweetheart arrangement’ with (the NRL) should offer more opportunities than a more third-party remote investment.”
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