Nick Westby: Ring-fencing reform required to re-energise northern rugby

Leeds, Newcastle and Sale occupied the bottom three places in this year’s Aviva Premiership and unless Carnegie can bounce back from their impending relegation at the first attempt, their debts may consume them and consign them to the same breath in which people on rugby terraces across the north say: “Do you remember that team called Orrell?”

Community rugby may be as strong as ever with 65 teams playing in the five Yorkshire divisions and a further 20 operating at regional and national levels. From those, myriad second, third, women’s and junior teams compete every week.

But if and when Worcester complete their victory over Cornish Pirates on Wednesday night, Yorkshire will again no longer have representation in the top flight.

Leeds have never had the financial clout to compete with the teams from the southern hotbed of the sport, and their chances of that ever happening are looking more and more remote as they grapple with a debt of £2m that will only grow unless they win promotion back to the Premiership next season.

The folly of the Championship promotion structure this season has reignited the debate about ring-fencing the Premiership, as their cross-code brothers do in league.

Of the four semi-finalists, only Worcester meet the entry criteria to play in the Premiership.

Cornish Pirates are a pro-active club getting stronger every year. They play an exciting brand of expansive rugby but lack the facilities to compete with the best.

Only two other teams are understood to have met the entry criteria, but the reality is there are only 13 teams capable of competing in the Premiership, plus perhaps Bristol, though one more season like the one they have just experienced could see them going the way of Orrell, Waterloo, Richmond, Wakefield and so many great names of the past.

Premier Rugby has a contract with the Rugby Football Union to maintain promotion and relegation until 2016, but it is a contract that is open to re-negotiation and one that must be discussed now to preserve the integrity of the Championship and safeguard the future of top level rugby in the north.

It is time to follow the Super League blueprint of giving clubs three-year licences.

If there are only feasibly 14 teams with a Premiership pedigree, then pull up the drawbridge now or at least next season; abolish the wishy-washy LV Cup that can see a team qualify for the semi-finals with one win over a team with three wins; give clubs 26 league games; expand the play-offs to eight teams to continue interest for more clubs until the end of the season; and offer teams in the second tier and below three years in which to plan and prepare themselves for a three-year spell among the elite.

Proud operations like the Pirates, Doncaster Knights and Rotherham Titans harbour hopes of playing in the top flight but by their own admission, are not yet ready to do so.

Inside three years they can better produce a business plan on how they would survive and thrive in the Premiership; one that they would be proud to present to the authorities instead of one that is often hastily assembled to meet deadlines and requirements.

And for the teams that are granted a three-year licence – something Leeds would undoubtedly be grateful recipients of – it would enable them to make a better fist of competing in the big time.

With a three-year guarantee clubs, particularly the northern ones for whom the battle against relegation is becoming a regular occurence, would be able to manage their finances better.

Sponsorship would be more readily attained with brands more comfortable backing long-term projects than ones with a shorter shelf life. Local investment would be easier to attract – something Leeds have been unable to generate.

From that basis of increased revenue, clubs could spend their wages budget more wisely, top international players would be more willing to join a team that has a future beyond nine months, a knock-on effect of which would be increased competition in the league.

Clubs like Leeds, who have an Academy to be proud of, would stand a better chance of retaining their young prospects rather than losing them to the more established names.

The Leeds Academy is a hive of Yorkshire talent. Teenagers from all across the broad acres know they have a gateway into the Premiership and potentially international honours through the youth recruitment and development programme at Headingley Carnegie.

Relegation for Leeds and financial implosion would see that vehicle for the region’s talent stalled, and then the game in the north would really be in danger.

For while the days of a Northern select side defeating the all-conquering All Blacks at Otley may be a thing of the past, a selection of the current generation of stars who wear the Red Rose at Twickenham hail from north of the East Midlands duopoly of Leicester and Northampton.

Indeed, five of England’s back seven in the recent Six Nations have their roots in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cheshire, the North East and Cumbria; Mike Tindall pictured, Chris Ashton, Toby Flood, Mark Cueto and Ben Foden.

And let us not forget the men on the bench; Jonny Wilkinson, Danny Care and Charlie Hodgson.

England’s future may rest in these northern hands, so a memo to the powers that be: preserve the supply line by giving these players ample outlets for their talents to be harnessed, namely the clubs, Leeds, Newcastle and Sale.

The purpose of the Super League licence system is to grow the sport in different regions, with French, Welsh and London teams.

The objective in union may be equally as crucial, to revive the sport in the north.