SITTING down to a Christmas meal out with friends in my favourite restaurant, I was asked a question that on the face of it should have been a fairly simple one to answer, but instead drew a big sigh of, maybe not despair, but certainly not of joy.

“What do you think of the new Championship structure – will it work?” was the question that had the potential to open up a whole can of worms.

In theory, the newly-expanded competition should work – especially as the fixture list has been planned in such a way that teams are only playing those that finished in similar positions in 2025. This should cut out too many one-sided scorelines because the majority of teams should be able to feel confident that they can match each and every opponent they face.

But theory is often very different to reality, and already new investment at London Broncos has left them looking like a distinctly different prospect than they did last year.

Given that Salford were in Super League last season, they have been handed what is deemed to be a tougher fixture list against the sides that finished highest up in the Championship.

But the Red Devils are in an even worse state now than they were throughout 2025 – for a start, they didn’t even exist anymore as I write this column, but as everything in sport and business is generally quite fast-paced, that may not be the case by the time you read this.

Even if Salford are back as a club, they’ll have very little time to prepare for their opening game – with no squad or coach in place as of yet, it may not even be viable for them to take to the field anyway. 

So quite why Salford v Oldham was chosen to kick off the season is anyone’s guess.

Featherstone are in a similar situation having gone into administration just as this issue was going to print. That could stave off liquidation, leaving them in a slightly better position than Salford are in, as they both try to rebuild with just weeks to spare until kick-off. 

What sort of message will it send out about rugby league if one, or maybe two games a week of this much heralded new start have to be cancelled because one of the teams either can’t raise a side or doesn’t even exist anymore? 

It will just let the wider sporting world think that rugby league is an amateur sport, rather than the professional one we all love.

It was fairly obvious to all that when the winding up petition against Salford was finally heard, after several adjournments, they would go into liquidation and have to rely on new owners raising a new club from the ashes.

So would it not have been more sensible for the RFL to not include them in the fixture list and to say to the club, or what remained of it, to sit this season out, use 2026 to get the new owners in situ, the finances in place and slowly build a squad ready to go again in 2027, rather than having to rush everything through? New clubs entering the NRL get this grace period to use for their own benefit, so couldn’t Salford have been granted the same?

If neither Salford nor Featherstone make the start line, other clubs will inevitably suffer – they’ll have unplanned weekends off, which does nothing for consistency – many clubs experienced that after Cornwall pulled out of League One after just three league games. If two teams were to go this season, the effects of that could be felt even more harshly.

Even as the season kicks off, there may be a sense of clubs almost limping through a stop-start season that may never really get going for them.

But if I’m proved wrong, I will be more than happy to admit it, because that means we’ll have enjoyed a competitive, exciting Championship campaign with 21 teams all able to perform at their best, and that all clubs have come through relatively unscathed. And if we can say the same about the 14-team Super League, then I’ll be even happier.

On a different matter entirely, I would like to finish this column this month with a big thank you to everyone who has contributed to Rugby League World over the course of 2025.

Whether that has been with a regular monthly article, occasional feature, or even just a quick picture of yourself reading our magazine while enjoying a holiday somewhere, you’ve all played your part in another successful  year of this long-standing publication.

But my biggest thanks has to go to the other members of our small and hardworking editorial team, as I am fully aware I ask a lot from them when it comes to the final stages of a production cycle.

Rarely does a sentence coming out of my mouth not start with “When you’ve got a sec…” or “Can you just …”, but they do it, they always have my back, and it is not an exaggeration to say that the magazine simply wouldn’t be what it is without them.

I may hold the title of editor, but if it wasn’t for John, Stephen, Doug and Martyn backing me up every step of the way, I wouldn’t be able to get the job done, so can we please have a round of applause for them? I think they may have even earned a drink when we head into Leeds for a little Christmas knees-up when this issue is safely at the printers…. The first round’s on me guys.

Thank you also to all our readers, your support is really valued, and I hope we are continuing to provide the magazine you want and can enjoy.

All that is left for me to say now is I hope you all have a great Christmas and New Year with your loved ones, take care, look after yourselves and come back refreshed and ready to go again in 2026.

First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 516 (January 2026)