The Virtual Terrace • The Key to Success is...

All the chairmen will accept relegation as long as they are replaced by other chairmen of full membership owning English clubs who meet Superleague standards. Outside of the 10 English chairmen in Superleague, you have the following Gentlemen and their clubs who retain Superleague ambitions.

Mr. John Flatman......YORK
Mr. Semor Kurdi.......NEWCASTLE
Mr. Nigel Wood .......BRADFORD
Mr. Chris Shaw.......WIDNES
Mr. David Hughes....LONDON
Mr. Derek Beaumont....LEIGH

Four of the clubs clubs are already committed to player development and accept a mandatory requirement to run reserves. York are struggling on that issue as the local amateur game doesn't have the numbers. Should Leigh go up reserves should appear. Player development was made mandatory for SL clubs with the advent of the reserves league, and that mandatory requirement was stretched to Newcastle, Bradford, Widnes and London. We therefore now have 14 English clubs at the forefront of the game, who are in good shape and good hands to move forward into the new era of the re-vamp of the game and the new TV deal in 2022.

York will need to boost playing numbers in the city, AFAIK Salford will meet the Reserves criteria.

Whether Superleague stays at 12 clubs in 2022 or drops to 10 we shall have to wait and see, but it could not be more clearer that Superleague has already set it's criteria for future membership of the revamped Elite competition in 2022. The current Superleague competition is now playing out it's final two years of the contract i.e. 2020 and 2021 under the signed arrangement agreed between the RFL and the Superleague.

It is very clear that the current English SL clubs are already making plans for 2022 - wether that is 10 or 12 clubs they have 15 English clubs lined up for that, all of whom will have to meet the rule of running a Reserves side. [b]It really is not hard to see the intent behind the sudden introduction of a rule that puts the likes of Bradford and Widnes in the driving seat in the queue for Superleague 2022 onwards, and leaves Les Catalans and Toronto stranded as ineligble for Superleague 2022 onwards.[/b]

TWP's rection was to send McDermott out to admit they won't be developing any players, and of course the club has no players at all contracted to play in 2022. Deals are only being extended to 2021. As for Les Catalans, no reserves, no academy and they are currently looking for more English players to add to their first choice team. Why do these clubs bother to play on? I assume they are contractually committed to see their time out, and not spit the dummy out.

Expansion was always about expanding the pro player pool, TWP and Catalans are (1) failures on that, it was about TV deals that paid money, TWP and Catalans are (2) failures on that as well, and currently 14 English clubs meet the new criteria for inclusion in Superleague post 2021. Those are the facts of the matter.

Meanwhile at League Express Towers and RL Weekly heights these giants of the RL press have gone a bit quiet on their to date unstinting support for the Transatlantic dream. They would do well to start to discuss and champion this element of apparent resurgence in the English game.....