You can’t build anything strong on shaky foundations, as clubs outside Super League know only too well given the constant changes to the competitions they play in. Workington Town head coach Jonty Gorley shares his frustrations with Rugby League World.
UNCERTAINTY reigns for clubs outside of Super League and it’s no different for Workington Town head coach Jonty Gorley, who is looking to navigate the unknown and find a path back to the Championship.
As it stands, the top four clubs in League One will enter a ‘Super 8s’ play-off at the end of the season against the bottom four sides from the Championship.
But with discussions ongoing over a proposal to merge the two leagues, that may prove redundant anyway.
Gorley said: “The goalposts get changed all the time. Last time I was in League One, Toronto were in it. They were always going to romp the league, but at least there was one promotion place and then the play-off. Now there’s no promotion. They’ve made it so hard for League One clubs to get promotion to the Championship.
“It’s not even the case that you’re playing any League One clubs in the play-offs, you’re playing four Championship teams. What’s the advantage there? If I finish first in the league I’d want to play bottom and next to bottom at home, I wouldn’t want to play the higher teams up. You want the best possible outcome if you finish first, which in my opinion is the two lesser teams at home. God knows what will happen by the time we get there.”
A merge in competitions may suit Workington anyhow, as they will be guaranteed Cumbrian match-ups against Barrow and Whitehaven, something which hasn’t been a regular thing in the past couple of decades as all three sides have bounced between the divisions at different times.
It is thought that the proposal would see an East and West Conference set up, which would see the likes of Widnes, Oldham and North Wales pitched up against the Cumbrian clubs, while the Yorkshire teams would largely be in their own conference, along with Newcastle.
There are still obstacles to it being voted through – and it’s been on the table before, with Championship clubs voting against a merger and creating a single division ahead of the 2024 season.
The original plan, which led to a 13-team Championship this season, was to have two divisions of 12 and then adopt the ‘Super 8s’ concept for Championship and League One clubs. But the demise of Cornwall means there are 23 teams left underneath Super League, and the uncertainty over what the future of Super League looks like has a domino effect on the lower leagues. Gorley added: “The derby games would be massive for all three clubs. Barrow’s got a really good fanbase anyhow and get four figures most weeks, and they travel well, especially in summer. They came to Whitehaven a couple of times and there was 2,000 in and we had 2,000 for Workington and Whitehaven the last couple of times, so the clubs need it.
“It’d be great to get four figures every week. It picks the coffers up. It’s much needed money, and that’s the good side of the east/west merger. I don’t know who we will be with. We’ll get more fans coming up if it’s Widnes rather than playing Midlands or Newcastle so in that respect the Championship will fill the grounds a bit more.”
It’s not just the competition structure that creates uncertainty for the part-time clubs. The player market has been blown wide open over the past decade, with the advent of dual-registration, the forthcoming one-week loans and the basic removal of the anti-tampering deadline.
Players are now free to openly talk to other clubs from December 1st.
Gorley said: “It used to be September and then it was July. And then May and now it’s 1st December. Last year, I told my Whitehaven lads and it was 1st May. I was open and honest because I was packing in. Coming to Workington wasn’t even on the cards then. I had a good rapport with players so I only felt right to let them know that I wasn’t going to be at Whitehaven this season, just so they could make their minds up. I didn’t want to leave it until September and find some of them were only staying there because of me.
“It was 1st May last year, then they moved it to 1st December before they even kick a ball. You’re trying to build a squad. You maybe signed someone on a 12-month deal to have a look at them and that’s all they want to sign, and they’re a good player, but you’ve only got them for that 12 months because by the time we start the season they could be signed by somebody else before they’ve even played a game for us. It’s stupid. It’s crazy. I think they look at what Australia do and do that, which is never going to work because they’re a million miles in front of us.
“Because everybody else is talking to your players, some of them will think ‘he never spoke to me’ but Whitehaven or Barrow or whoever have. So you’ve got to speak to your own lads. We’ve actually just signed two for next year now. But I know for a fact we’ll speak to others, and they don’t want to speak until the season’s finished. But other clubs will be talking to them. It isn’t an ideal situation to be honest. They should have left it, at least until 1st July. That wasn’t a bad date because you do start looking at your squad for next year early, moving it to December is ridiculous.
“I spoke to my own directors and the last thing I want in game week is to be talking to my players about something that’s eight or 12 months away. It isn’t a bad thing with all these weeks off, the season could have been two months shorter, so we’ve used the weeks off to talk to our players.
“We haven’t looked at anybody yet from other clubs, because you don’t know what league you’re going to be in.
“Things change all the time. Football has been the same for a hundred years with promotion and relegation, and we just change the goalposts every couple of years, it’s ridiculous.”
First published in Rugby League World magazine, Issue 510 (July 2025)