THE NRL has finally made an offer of A$60 million over five years to acquire what is effectively a controlling interest in the Super League competition.

That equates to around £35 million, or £7 million per year.

That is around £500,000 per club, if we assume that Super League will continue to comprise 14 clubs. And apparently the money would go directly to the club owners to allow them to reduce their losses, which are currently estimated to run collectively at between £25 and £30 million per year.

So it wouldn’t make a massive dint in those losses.

There has been some speculation about the NRL ending with 50 per cent of the equity of Super League within five years.

But what they really appear to want is control of the competition, and they seem to be hoping to get it at a bargain-basement price.

I understand that the leading accountancy firm Deloitte has recently advised the RFL that the value of its competition is around £150 million.

So to say there’s a massive gap between the two figures is something of an understatement.

The offer was received approximately 90 minutes before an online meeting last Thursday of the Super League clubs.

The meeting had apparently been called mainly at the behest of Wigan and Hull FC.

I suspect that Wigan owner Mike Danson, who apparently has a strong relationship with NRL Chairman Peter V’landys ever since meeting him in Las Vegas in 2025, had asked the NRL to lodge its offer last week to put an end to the guessing game that has been going on for the last 18 months.

I can see how any club owner might be tempted to grab at what looks like free money. Who wouldn’t want an extra £500,000 per year in the coffers when you are having to dig deep to support your club?

Of course any organisation that is losing money hand over fist will be tempted by offers like the one the NRL has made, but that can only be a sticking plaster.

What’s really disappointing is that the offer doesn’t seem to have had any indication of what the NRL would like to do if it were to acquire control of the competition.

They are effectively asking for a blank cheque.

I almost get the feeling that they have made an offer that they know perfectly well will be unacceptable.

And they could then walk away and wash their hands of the whole thing.

I hope, however, that they are better than that.

We will be discussing this in this week’s League Express Podcast.

And our guest will be Graeme Taylor, who in my view should have got the job as the RFL’s new chief executive. Graeme has written a piece giving his reaction to the NRL’s offer.

Check it out, either on our YouTube channel or on any reputable podcast platform.

The DCE show will be coming to your town

FOR many years Daly Cherry-Evans has been one of the best Rugby League players in the world.

And next year, at the age of 38, he will be coming to play for Hull FC in Super League.

He may only be here for one year, but he should be a big draw wherever he plays.

In recent years Super League hasn’t been able to attract the very best players from the NRL, but Cherry-Evans, as he showed against Penrith last Thursday, is still up there among the very best.

It reminds me of when Wakefield Trinity signed Wally Lewis in 1983.

Wakefield’s crowds went up, but so did the crowds at every club Trinity visited when he was in the team.

Welcome back George

IT was great to see George Williams back for Warrington against York on Thursday night after his lengthy absence with a neck injury.

I had not expected him to return to action before the World Cup and I’m delighted to see him back on the field.

I would like to wish him all the best to go through the rest of the season free of any further injury.

And of course I would love to see him captaining England to World Cup glory in Australia later this year.

Leopard-like defence

LEOPARDS are alpha-predators in the wild, but they generally have little need to defend themselves.

But last Thursday night Leigh Leopards gave one of the best defensive performances I’ve seen for a long time in holding Leeds Rhinos at bay.

The impending Super League play-offs are looking like beauties this season.

Championship needs Featherstone

THERE was a terrific event at Featherstone last Friday night as the True Blue Revival Group held a special night at the stadium for a fundraising game that involved a host of former Rovers stars.

And the turnout was terrific.

It’s absolutely vital that Featherstone are back in the Championship next year.

I hope that the administrator will soon be able to announce which consortium will take charge of the club for its return to the competition.

If and when they do make that return, I hope that the RFL and the game as a whole can organise a massive welcome back to the fold for one of its most iconic clubs.