RFL chairman provides realignment update and explains reason for hold up

Rugby Football League chairman Simon Johnson believes the negotiations to realign the governing body with Super League “are getting very close to a conclusion” as he revealed his optimism for the season ahead.

The top-flight clubs infamously split from the RFL in 2018 and brought in Everton supremo Robert Elstone to lead a new Super League aimed at making the competition more dynamic and commercially minded.

But Elstone jumped ship last February and the TV broadcasting deal with Sky Sports has reduced drastically, with a dropping from £40 million a year down to around £25 million a year.

That has led to less money for all clubs within the professional structure and forced the RFL and Super League to come back together to prevent a duplication of costs across the two operations.

The realignment process has dragged on since the middle of last year, but Johnson said: “The reason it’s taking a long time is because we don’t want to do this again.

“We want to get this right and there is a lot to sort out if this is the last time you ever have any discussions about re-organisation and the structure of the game.

“I’m very pleased with the way the discussions are going and I think they are getting very close to a conclusion.

“We are right in the detail of what’s going to be the structure that will come out at the end of it – we are just not there yet.

“We want to deal with all the issues, including financial splits and who has responsibility for what, so that we don't have to have this discussion again.

“So the aim of the process we’re going through is to create a better structured organisation, one that reduces duplication, one that increases opportunities for us to generate revenue and one that is more attractive to