IN recent weeks, speculation had been mounting that Super League could be heading for 14 teams.

The RFL Council met last week to talk about a number of issues and whilst nothing concrete was decided, Nigel Wood was made permanent chairman after initially joining on an interim period.

Much has been made of the future of rugby league, with IMG’s involvement coming increasingly under threat.

With that in mind, talk has been growing that a structure change could be in the pipeline – and yesterday it was announced that there would be a 14-team Super League from 2026.

But Wood has explained that more needs to be done to find out the best viable option for the future of the sport.

“We have to make sure that the decision the sport comes up with is evidence-based,” Wood said on the League Express podcast.

“There are complications with contraction and I think if we are trying to make our sport an investable proposition then it needs to be the best version it can be.

“I think the sport does lack a public face that can act as a galvanising voice – an instantly recognisable voice. I don’t see that around the central executive at the moment.

“There are only two professional leagues on the planet. One is in the UK with a little bit of France and the other is in Australia with a little bit of New Zealand.

“We need to develop a much stronger, closer, harmonious working relationship between those two leagues.”

In terms of the expansion of Super League, Wood has insisted that that the top flight will not be inflated for the sake of it.

“I think the right size of Super League has to be fluid based on the quality of the potential clubs that are capable of playing in it.

“You don’t want to pre-determine a number of 14, 16, 18 or 20 teams and then start populating them without having one eye on what the quality of those clubs would be.

“The NRL has gone from having 14 to 16 to 22 and then with the merger between the ARL and Super League, dropped back to 14 and built it slowly back again.

“Super League has to be of high quality. That means proper facilities, proper stadia, playing in front of 10,000 people and businesses that can generate sufficient revenue to spend at salary cap, produce talent and provide compelling entertainment each week.

“That’s the challenge we want to deliver. I wouldn’t automatically go to 14 or 16 teams if it would put at risk the overall quality of the league.

“But, I think most people accept that 12 isn’t the right number when you’ve got loop fixtures needed to populate the fixture list.”