BATLEY owner Kevin Nicholas says he has seen correspondence which indicates Super League clubs, led by his Wigan counterpart Ian Lenagan, are trying to take over the running of the sport in Britain.
Speaking in this morning’s League Weekly, Nicholas says he believe Super League clubs want to reduce teams in all other divisions to ranks of amateurs, using a power vacuum created by the departure from the Rugby Football League of chief executive Nigel Wood.
“I was able to see a letter from October 7 that Ian Lenagan sent to all Super League clubs, some of it expressing reasonable criticism of the RFL , making it clear that Super League should be making all the decisions on where all the (TV money) goes, and should have complete control – not the independent RFL board,” Nicholas told the magazine.
Super League clubs last year achieved the required 75 per cent majority required to remove Wood as a director and replace him on the organisations’s board with their own representatives.
“There’s nothing sinister in that in itself,” said Nicholas. “That’s their right as shareholders, they are directors of a company.
“But I think that’s a sinister first step. Ian Lenagan, because if his understanding of how the Football League works, wants our governance to mirror their model.
“There should be an independent body of people who take into account the needs of all sections of the game – and of course that means reflecting the importance of (Super League clubs).”
Lenagan became chairman of the Football League in 2016. Nicholas went on to praise Wood for uniting the game.
