Former England international Jon Wilkin issued a direct appeal on Monday to Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy to approve a five-year funding plan for rugby league worth £30 million. The appeal was made on BBC Radio 5 Live, with the aim, as he stated, of establishing a five-year partnership for the social impact of rugby league in northern England.
Wilkin believes a similar plan would help deprived communities in northern England and that the government should follow the example of Australia. The Australian government announced in July that it would allocate 250 million Australian dollars, or £130 million, over ten years for the Pacific Rugby League Partnership. This partnership, led by the Australian Rugby League Commission as the national governing body for the sport, is designed to create sporting, educational and employment opportunities in Papua New Guinea, Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.
Wilkin claimed that Australia has recognised the potential of rugby league as a driver of social change. The proposed partnership would bring together the RFL, professional clubs, communities, local authorities and government departments, with the programme focused on vulnerable communities in the north.
New Rugby Football League chief executive Ian Nolan, former head of Manchester United, took up the post on 1 October. Nolan assessed that the social benefits of such an initiative would be felt more quickly because rugby league clubs are already established in their communities, namely in the most deprived towns in the United Kingdom.
A spokesperson for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport told BBC Sport that rugby league has made a significant contribution to society for more than 130 years. The government has allocated £15.7 million to rugby league through Sport England by 2029, and is also investing £400 million in the restoration of sports pitches at local level.
Nolan announced on Sunday that the RFL would advise English rugby giants to outline the future of the national game through an initiative called One Game, One England. The England men’s and women’s teams recently exited the World Cup at the group stage, the first time no England team has reached the semi-finals.
Wilkin sharply criticised the structure of the English game, arguing that the packed Super League schedule and the resulting lack of an international break mid-season contributed to the disappointing World Cup performance. Nolan is seeking ways for domestic players to get better matches, and mentioned a major opportunity to design new series of the Ashes type against Australia, New Zealand, France or in a domestic setting. Previously, the International Origin series was played between 2011 and 2013, in which England played against the Exiles team composed of foreign Super League players, and the War of the Roses between Lancashire and Yorkshire, last held in 2003.
Former England international Ryan Hall told BBC Radio 5 Live that the men’s World Cup was weakened because the number of teams was reduced from 16 to 10. Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Greece, Jamaica and Wales missed the tournament. The decision to reduce the field was made after Australia stepped in as host, and the tournament was delayed by a year because original host France withdrew for financial reasons. Hall said he did not consider it a World Cup because the essence of any World Cup in any sport is that it should be a festival of that sport.
