Warren Ashurst: Rugby league must change its perspective to be truly super

The 30th season of Super League begins on Thursday, although unless you are an avid fan of rugby's 13-man code you would be forgiven for not realising.

Take yourself back to 1995. Britpop ruled the airwaves, Toy Story and GoldenEye were raking in millions at the box office, while Pete Sampras and Steffi Graf dominated at Wimbledon.

The mid-90s was also the time when rugby league was at the height of its popularity. A sport full of household names, many of whom had chosen the 13-man code over 15-man union.

In October of that year England reached the World Cup final – losing 16-8 to Australia in front of 66,500 fans at Wembley Stadium. The England line-up that day included league legends such as Martin Offiah, Phil Clarke, Jason Robinson, Gary Connolly, Kris Radlinski and Andy Farrell.

A year later, the sport's top flight was rebranded Super League and, more importantly, it broke with tradition and became a summer sport.

Many die-hard league fans were dead against the switch, but the RL hierarchy aimed to build on the sport's popularity and bring crucial funding into the game.

Rugby league has always been seen as a ‘northern’ sport in many parts of the UK, but Super League wanted to expand the sport's reach and spread the gospel across both Britain and into Europe.

A proposal to merge some clubs was suggested but was soon seen as a step too far. In the end 12 teams would compete for the first Super League title including Paris Saint-Germain, who kicked off the summer era with a 30-24 victory over Sheffield Eagles in the French capital.

Two years later, Super League decided to adopt the playoff system used in Australia's NRL, with 44,000 fans in attendance for the inaugural Grand Final at Old Trafford between Wigan and Leeds in 1998.

Crowds continued to rise at the start of the millennium and 72,500 showed up at the home of Manchester United to watch the 2006 Super League showpiece between St Helens and Hull FC.

During the early 2000s stars such as Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow, Paul Wellens, Leon Pryce, Keiron Cunningham and Sam Tomkins lit up the sport and inspired the next generation of players.

It was during that time when I started going to watch my local team, Leeds. 

Headingley became a regular haunt on a Friday evening as men, women and children stood together on a balmy summer evening (yes, the sun does shine sometimes in Leeds) to watch top-level sport at an affordable price.

Premier League superstars such as Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand were also regular attendees at Super League matches, but the powers that be failed to capitalise on the heightened exposure, and crowds and interest began to wane.

So why did league fail to maintain, or even build, on that success? Some fans blame the sport’s bosses for not taking it to the next level while others say its traditionalists failed to embrace expansion.

Despite becoming a professional sport a century after league, rugby union began to hold sway towards the end of the 1990s in terms of player pull and money, while league appeared to have a steadfast dislike of change or losing that ‘local’ feel.

Figures from other sports were even hired to try to help. Former FA and BBC chief Brian Barwick was appointed as chairman of the sport's governing body, the RFL, while football legend Tony Adams and broadcaster Clare Balding have both had spells as RFL president.

Clare Balding has had a spell as RFL presidentCredit: Edward Whitaker

The global pandemic clearly had a big impact on the small budgets of clubs and the government was forced to help out with emergency loans to keep them afloat.

To add insult to injury, figures released last year show that the average gate for a Premiership rugby union match is now higher than that of a Super League game.

It’s fair to say the sport has to find a solution – and fast – in what is a more competitive market than ever before.

Those like myself who used to watch league regularly will probably not recognise more than a few players in each team now, but the product is still rich in entertainment. 

I took my 11-year-old son to watch Leeds versus Wigan last season and he had a great time. Ticket prices are affordable, stadiums have improved and the game is a great watch, so why shouldn't it thrive?

Just the mention of Eddie Hearn’s name might send shudders through a portion of league fans, but the thoughts of the successful boxing promoter shouldn’t be dismissed out of hand and he clearly has an interest in Super League.

Discussing the sport on several occasions, Hearn admitted last year that he has spoken to teams and senior figures in an attempt to help their progress.

He has pointed to a ‘lack of star names’ as the biggest issue and has called on the sport to invest in its stars of the future to help with promoting its wider appeal.

Global management group IMG has taken on the marketing of the sport, and RL returning to terrestrial TV – Super League games have been shown on BBC and Channel 4 in recent seasons – could boost its profile. But it’s not that simple nowadays.

Young fans want social media representation, YouTube and TikTok skills videos and off-the-pitch interaction to get them involved with sport in their limited free time.

That’s not something that really sits with the rugby league ethos, but it could and now is the time to move with the times.

It’s a big job but the product is there and league needs to take that brave leap into the new era in order to not only kick on but ultimately survive.

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