HUNSLET chief executive Neil Hampshire has given his backing to the new fixture format that has resulted in the Championship fixture list that the RFL published last week.
Of the 21 clubs that will compete in the merged Championship, Hunslet finished last season in eleventh place, exactly in the middle, meaning they will face ten ‘pendulum’ opponents in 2026 ranging from top club Salford to bottom club Newcastle, while also having two ‘local’ opponents Keighley and Featherstone.
And Hampshire believes his club will reap the benefit from that structure.
“I’m happier than I would have been if we had still had League One and the Championship,” he told League Express.
“Realistically we had to merge to protect the clubs below Super League. We would have preferred a Conference style approach, with east and west conferences, but with 21 clubs we recognised that would have been very difficult.
“Is it perfect? No, it’s not. But is it better than what it could have been? I think it is a fair way of doing it. They have come up with a rather unique fixture list method, which I think gives a fair spread of fixtures against previous Championship and League 1 clubs that will make it interesting.
“Realistically I think we have a good chance of getting into the play-offs. And it gives the clubs that finished at the lower end of League One a chance of getting into the play-offs as well.
“I think it’s unpredictable.”
And Hampshire believes that one potential criticism of a merged league has been overcome.
“A big part of the lobby against going into one league was potential blowout scores. And I think this structure protects against that. It does make it less likely that we will see a lot of scores like that.”