The independent panel chaired by Lord Jonathan Caine has been handed a risky inheritance, as it is tasked with choosing the next members of the Super League amidst a raging controversy that questions the very foundation of the expansion it is meant to facilitate. The panel’s decisions will be made under a cloud of doubt and intense scrutiny.
The panel’s inheritance is the “rushed” and “non-robust” process designed by the Rugby Football League (RFL), which a significant number of clubs have publicly criticised. It must now operate within a framework that its key stakeholders believe is flawed. This puts the panel in the unenviable position of having to lend credibility to a process that currently has very little.
The risk for the panel is twofold. Firstly, the compressed timeline means it may not have sufficient time to perform the deep financial and structural due diligence required. If it approves clubs that subsequently fail, the panel’s reputation will be damaged, and it will be seen as having rubber-stamped a flawed process.
Secondly, its decisions will be inherently political. No matter which clubs it chooses, the decision will be viewed through the lens of the current row. If it recommends expansion, it could be seen as siding with the RFL against the worried clubs. If it highlights flaws in the applicants that prevent expansion, it could be seen as validating the clubs’ concerns.
This risky inheritance means the panel’s report on October 16th will be about more than just which clubs get in. It will be a verdict on the viability of the applicant clubs and, implicitly, a commentary on the entire expansion process. Lord Caine and his colleagues face the tough choice of either endorsing a controversial plan or potentially throwing it into further chaos.