DEWSBURY RAMS coach Paul March says adopting a feeder-team approach to the professional game outside Super League could provide a way forward as the sport tries to avoid more clubs hitting the wall financially.
Featherstone, where March had a spell on the coaching staff between 2019 and 2021, didn’t make the starting line for this year’s Championship after going into administration and failing to gain an RFL licence.
Halifax have had their membership revoked after being wound up because of money owed to His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, with the RFL saying they are working with interested parties in a bid to preserve the code at senior level in Calderdale.
Those issues followed the liquidation of the old Salford club and subsequent scramble to start up a new version in time for this season, while Oldham have also faced a winding-up order and are in dispute with landlords Oldham Athletic Football Club over their use of Boundary Park.
They have been using Stalybridge Celtic Football Club’s Bower Fold ground, where Dewsbury recently went for their Challenge Cup third-round tie, which Oldham won 46-0.
The Rams’ most recent match was a 38-28 league victory at Newcastle, whose bright start to the season has been aided by their partnership with Super League newcomers York.
And March noted: “It’s an interesting model, and maybe one which should be followed by more clubs.
“I know there is some politics involved, and that fans fear the teams they support could lose their identity, but if it helps create a competitive side without an overspend, that has to be better than the future of clubs being at risk.
“Super League sides have players who would benefit from gaining experience in the Championship, as we’ve seen via loans and dual-registration.
“There could be an extension of that into a more organised and controlled system, where the players are with the Championship club for a more fixed period.”