The Rugby Football League’s decision to demand the Challenge Cup holders, Catalans Dragons, pay a bond to enter this year’s competition has been branded “stupid” by one of the most prominent club owners in Super League.
Catalans have been asked by the RFL to provide a £500,000 deposit, in light of a poor attendance in last year’s final, when just over 50,000 people watched Dragons defeat Warrington at Wembley to win the cup for the first time.
So far Dragons have refused to pay the bond and insist they will not do so, putting the pressure on the governing body to either retract its demands – which were also made of Toronto and Toulouse – or exclude the holders from this year’s competition. The stand-off has led the Wigan owner, Ian Lenagan, to question the logic of the move.
“I think it’s stupid,” he said. “I think it’s a poor decision, and an ill-thought-out decision, to be perfectly honest. Attendances being down in the Challenge Cup is not a Catalans-based problem. They have been diminishing for a while because of poor marketing and poor promotion of the cup on the whole.
“Sure, the FA have similar problems with the FA Cup – but the difference is that the final is always full. We have to, through the RFL, address the Challenge Cup problem as a sport. But stopping the holders entering the cup unless they pay a premium is not the best decision really, is it?”
Catalans’ dispute with the RFL comes at a time when they are planning their groundbreaking Super League fixture in the Camp Nou against Wigan in May, an occasion Lenagan believes has the potential to break the regular-season attendance record of 25,004 – set in 2005 when Wigan played St Helens – by a considerable margin.
“The fixture has got charisma about it,” he said. “It’s got a special buzz, and I felt it when I travelled to Barcelona for the launch event. We know thousands have booked flights to go from Wigan, and whether that figure will be 5,000 or 10,000, I don’t know.
“There’s the probability Catalans will take 20,000, and because they may well play in the colours of Barcelona, and everyone speaks Catalan, there’s a natural togetherness. Who knows, we could have 40,000 or 50,000 there. That creates the potential for a spectacular day for Super League, not just ourselves.”
The RFL has been approached for comment.
