“IT’S a statement win. We played the full 80 minutes and were relentless.”

Those were the words of Toulouse Olympique coach Sylvain Houles after his side’s astonishing 46-0 victory over St Helens at the BrewDog Stadium on Sunday.

Who could possibly have anticipated such a result, even though Toulouse had scored 60 points the previous week against their fellow French club Catalans Dragons.

And it was a historic weekend for Super League, given that Round 18 was the first time we saw the three clubs that were elevated prior to the start of the season all register wins in the same round of fixtures.

York defeated Hull FC on Thursday night, Bradford won at Huddersfield the following night and Toulouse rounded off the run of victories at St Helens on Sunday afternoon.

And that result means that St Helens have dropped out of the top six, having been replaced by Leigh, who certainly didn’t have things all their own way against Castleford Tigers on Saturday afternoon.

And of course there was another significant result on Saturday when Wakefield Trinity travelled to Hull KR and ended the Robins’ unbeaten home record this season.

So to say that we had some significant results in Round 18 is something of an understatement.

The only thing that is slightly disappointing, from the viewpoint of the three newcomers to Super League, is that they are now too far behind the top six to have a realistic chance of making it to the play-offs.

Nonetheless, not one of them is now in the bottom three of Super League, which comprises Castleford, Hull FC and Huddersfield.

We are at the stage now where it would be ludicrous to even consider relegating one of the three new clubs back to the Championship via the ridiculous gradings system.

Why on earth the RFL hasn’t got rid of it, I can’t begin to imagine.

But it surely has to go soon.

And the governing body surely has to find a place for London Broncos in the Super League next year, even if that means going to 15 clubs.

Such a move would probably mean a season with 24 fixtures and two bye weekends. And we can already see that several coaches – Matty Peet, Willie Peters and Paul Rowley – are making it clear that the relentless fixture schedule needs some relief and that a couple of bye weekends each year would be hugely beneficial, both physically and mentally for their players.

The RFL needs to grasp the nettle and sort it out.

The idea of London Broncos being condemned to another season in the Championship next year after their total domination of that competition this season is too silly to contemplate.

It’s interesting to reflect on what the three newcomers to Super League have brought to the competition this season.

York have brought Rugby League a presence in one of the most attractive cities in England, which is usually thronging with tourists in summer, while they have a modern stadium that looks good on TV and which they are coming closer to filling as the season unfolds. And they will soon have new investors joining the club to secure its financial stability.

Toulouse is the fourth biggest city in France, but more important than that is the fact that they are giving opportunities to French players and therefore they are helping to strengthen the French national team.

Bradford have brought great enthusiasm to the competition and they take great support with them on their away trips.

All three clubs have the potential to improve their league positions dramatically in 2027.

And London Broncos would potentially give us the greatest benefit of all – a presence in our capital city, which I hope the RFL will be able to exploit under its incoming chief executive Ian Nolan, who won’t get his feet under his desk until October, but who I hope will already be working out how he can use his expertise in social media to expand our sport’s footprint in the southeast.

The payoff is potentially huge.