If it feels like rugby league has been here before, then that’s because it has. In 1996, it was the pivot to summer rugby which would revolutionise the game forever. Fast forward to 2015 and there were gimmicky hashtags as far as the eye could see – #RLNewEra, #EveryMinuteMatters … and a league structure which was doomed to fail from the start.
And for 2023? IMG is tasked with delivering the mainstream exposure everyone associated with the sport craves. It has a useful platform to build from in the shape of last year’s Rugby League World Cup, albeit one which didn’t quite have the fairytale ending it would have hoped for, with England’s defeat in the semi-finals against Samoa. But in effect, the global media company has been given the keys to rugby league’s castle and afforded the chance to rip up the playbook on and off the field.
That means that if IMG does follow through on its initial proposals, this could be the last year of Super League as we know it, with the big kick-off on Thursday evening when Warrington host Leeds. “We’re going through a year of transformation and we need to show we’re going to make some changes – and make some changes for good,” the head of Rugby League Commercial, Frank Slevin, insisted last week.
Off the field, Rugby League Commercial has been formed after a merger of the RFL and Super League to work alongside IMG and attempt to drive revenue, sponsorship and broadcast income. England winning the World Cup on home soil would have helped that undoubtedly, as would news of international games to build on any appetite whetted by the World Cup. But, as the new domestic season begins, there is still no news on who England will play this autumn. That has to be a priority for IMG.
But the biggest and most noticeable changes are coming on the field. Promotion and relegation will be in place this year and next but in March, IMG will reveal its initial gradings for every club in the professional game, a licensing-style system which, from 2025, will replace promotion and relegation and determine which teams play in the Super League, and which do not. St Helens, Wigan and Leeds are certain to receive an A grading but from next month, the scramble will begin for everyone else to prove to IMG they can be part of a more prosperous future for rugby league when the gradings come into effect next year.
This could also be the last year we see Magic Weekend, Super League’s annual trip to Newcastle where all 12 teams play at St James’ Park across two days. IMG has made no secret of its desire to introduce a new premiere event – potentially a sevens competition – instead of Magic. There is talk of a revamp of the Challenge Cup too, with a Champions League-style group stage being brought in. All of these changes may be rubber-stamped in the weeks ahead, meaning that 2023 could prove a defining point in rugby league’s history.
There is an actual season of rugby to be played, too. The other 11 sides are chasing the all-conquering St Helens, who are eyeing a fifth straight league title. It is a run of dominance not seen since the great Wigan side of the 1980s and 90s, and they are the favourites to lift the title at Old Trafford again in October. The one spanner in the works for the Saints could be the after-effects of this Saturday’s World Club Challenge against Penrith in Australia potentially producing a sluggish start to the defence of their domestic title.
There are plenty of challengers. Wigan will again be strong under Matt Peet, Catalans and Huddersfield too, while perpetual underachievers Warrington and Hull will hope for better than in 2022, when they finished 11th and ninth respectively. At the bottom, newly promoted Leigh have the best chance of survival any team coming up from the Championship have had in years: expect a shootout between the Leopards and Wakefield Trinity. But above all, expect to be entertained because while off-field politics often grab the headlines in this game, the players rarely fail to deliver on it.
So often, we have seen change mooted and talked about in rugby league but the power has often resided with the clubs, who are keen to remain in a state of inertia and resist revolution. This time, it is IMG who hold all the cards and if it doesn’t rip things up and try to change it, you suspect nobody ever will. On the field it will be as thrilling and entertaining as ever: off it could be just as fascinating, too.
