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2 months ago
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Super League will become a 14-team competition again in 2026 after rugby league’s elite clubs opted to expand by two teams for the start of next season.
The league has operated with 12 teams for the last decade but clubs agreed to the expansion on Monday at a meeting in Leeds which opens the door for at least two Championship teams to join the elite ranks for 2026.
The Guardian revealed last month how a strategic review which was being led by Nigel Wood - the former chief executive of the governing body who has since returned as its chair despite being paid more than £300,000 to leave in 2018 - was likely to recommend Super League moved back to a 14-team competition.
That was primarily due to the fact that a 27-round regular season is more appealing with 14 teams as it requires no loop fixtures. The move was also due to a fear that Toulouse could finish 12th in the IMG gradings at the end of this year, which would have granted them admission to Super League and left two French clubs in the top division.
Wood and a number of clubs felt that would be a backwards step for the game, and thus launched a push to recommend expansion to 14 teams as soon as possible. That move was confirmed on Monday, but with a unique set of circumstances that will lead to the admission of two new teams.
The IMG gradings system, which measures clubs in a variety of on and off-field metrics before producing a ranking that determines which teams play in Super League, will determine the top 12 at the end of the season. But two more clubs outside of the 12 highest clubs in the gradings will be selected by an independent panel that will include members of the strategic review committee appointed by Wood. That panel will deem what they believe to be the best two applicants to join the 12 clubs with the highest IMG grading at the end of the season.
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It means clubs including York Knights, Bradford Bulls and London Broncos now have a viable pathway to Super League in 2026.
