Promotion or bust is real fear for rivals 
– Aston

The pathway to the elite has been opened up once more with the introduction of a new format in 2015.

With two teams of 12 splitting into three groups of eight after 23 regular rounds, the middle tier play each other in order to decide who plays in Super League the following season.

For ambitious Championship clubs – whose new campaign starts a week Sunday – it creates the annual chance of promotion again after the previously restrictive licence system.

The top four at the end of 2015 will play against the bottom four of Super League to decide who plays where. However, Aston, who has guided Sheffield to Championship Grand Final success in each of the last two seasons, believes it is pure folly.

He argues that clubs only agreed to it after being lured in by the prospect of increased central funding and the realistic chance of being elevated is miniscule.

“I think the other Championship clubs have been bought as they’re all thinking they’ll get more money,” Aston told the Yorkshire Post, with the RFL having just secured another major broadcasting deal with Sky Sports that incorporates the second tier.

“I know I’ll get shot down for this but some of the top-end Championship sides have already bought a team for Super League too.

“If, though, they don’t get in those top two spots – it’s not top four as, remember, two Super League clubs are coming down at the end of this year – then what happens then?

“They are going for broke and, quite simply, if they don’t get in that top two next year, they’ll be bust.

“Other clubs always spend more money than us in this division and I’ve no problem with that.

“But we won’t jeopardise ourselves or risk the club. That’s not our style.

“We’ll stick by our principles and won’t throw stupid money to go for that top two.”

Championship clubs currently get around £100,000 per season from central funds compared to the £1.2m Super League clubs receive.

The RFL hopes to narrow that gap from a 12:1 ratio to 2:1 with the leading Championship club securing around £650,000 and improving their chances of competing.

But Aston countered: “Can you really get the top players with that amount and operate a full-time squad?

“You could perhaps get a few more players in but remember that the Super League clubs are still on double that figure.

“They can kid people however they want about promotion and relegation; unless the financial difference between Super League and Championship clubs gets reduced significantly, I don’t expect any Championship clubs to get promoted.

“It will be very, very difficult for any of them to do that.

“If they do then they will have to invest a lot of money, too, that they have themselves. Do they have that?

“There’s a carrot there but I don’t see it being that big.”

Although the likes of Featherstone Rovers, Halifax and Leigh are all expected to make big pushes to get in that race, Aston insists Sheffield will not deviate from their own plan.

His primary concern is about the potential effect new plans may have on the development of youngsters in the sport.

Although part of the licencing process – which was introduced ahead of 2009 – was to nurture homegrown players, he feels that has not always occurred and new proposals in the RFL’s Policy Review could actually see a cut in academies.

“Clubs have been given money for academies during the years of licensing but – when you look at some – I do wonder where that has gone,” he added.

“I’m fighting to have an Academy here to carry on investing in developing young players like we have been doing.

“But I’m told we won’t have one as the number of academies is being reduced.

“Why are they doing that? Why aren’t we investing in the future? If we don’t then other sports will and rugby union will take these players or the player drain to Australia will get bigger.

“The license system was supposed to be about giving our kids first team rugby and it concerns me it seems to be going the other way.

“Super League used to be about investing in the community and investing in kids but now money is being pulled from the RFL’s community posts and we’re dropping academies.

“At Sheffield, we’re investing money in the future here and, my opinion is, clubs that aren’t doing that should see their central money reduced.”

Sheffield have defied the odds to win the Championship title in each of the last two seasons – coming from fourth and then second – having also been Grand Final runners-up in 2011.

After the demise of Don Valley, they move to Owlerton Stadium this season, kicking off against newly-promoted Rochdale Hornets on February 16 – and have again, strangely, been talked down as potential winners.

“We’ve lost one or two players but we’re used to winning,” said a phlegmatic Aston.

“It’s a good habit to be in. We’ve things to contend with like moving ground but we’ve kept the nucleus of our squad and we’re pretty confident we’re going to have another good year.

“Over the last two years nobody mentioned Sheffield until we went on and won it and that’s great. It suits us fine.”

He concedes he has allowed some quality to depart in the shape of Vinny Finigan (Batley), Nev Morrison (Doncaster) and Pat Smith (York).

But his holistic approach comes through once more when he explains: “For their own personal development as rugby league players, it just isn’t right to have them sat on their backsides here.

“I could have kept them but couldn’t guarantee them first-team football and they need that.

“I love blokes like Vinny Finigan, Nev Morrison and Pat Smith but, at 23 and 24 years old, they can’t just be playing six games a season.

“They should be playing week in, week out and they should get that now elsewhere.

“Some clubs are running with 30 players but we’ll have 22 and we’ve promoted some of our kids into the first-team squad.

“We’re happy with what we’ve got and I’ll add if the right player comes up but there’s no panic here.”

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