Super League clubs have voted in favour of retaining a 12-team competition next season, meaning promotion and relegation will go ahead as planned.
Clubs met again today to discuss the way forward for Super League with several proposals on the table, including expanding to 14 teams for the 2022 campaign.
However, Rugby League Live understands an agreement has been reached that will see the competition stay as it is, for next season at least.
There remains a strong appetite for two top divisions of 10 in 2023, although how that would be decided remains up in the air.
The immediate impact is on the bottom of Super League and the top of the Championship.
As planned, the Championship will run a top six play-off system that will conclude with the Million Pound Game to determine which club will replace the bottom side in Super League in 2022.
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Leigh Centurions are currently rock bottom of Super League with Toulouse Olympique and Featherstone Rovers among the frontrunners in the Championship.
Those clubs now have clarity after another period of uncertainty for the game.
A number of meetings have taken place in recent weeks over the latest proposed restructure of the competition.
Initial proposals tabled would have seen Super League expanded to 14 teams for the 2022 season, which would have meant no relegation from the top flight at the end of this year and two teams being promoted from the Championship.
Four teams would then have been relegated from Super League at the end of next season, joining the six highest-placed teams in the Championship to make ‘Super League 2’ in 2023.
The structure received mixed reviews across Super League, with some clubs calling for the competition to stick with 12 clubs next year as planned.
A television camera ready to capture the action at the Totally Wicked Stadium
(Image: News Images)
There were concerns over the logistics of a 14-team competition as well as the finances involved in funding two extra teams in the top flight.
The 14-team proposal was suggested as it was deemed unfair to relegate a side due to the disruption caused to the fixture list by Covid-19.
It remains to be seen which way the competition will go beyond next season but today’s decision allows clubs to plan for 2022 with greater certainty.
