THE RFL’s Policy Review, which includes proposals for new league structures for the 2015 season, will be the subject of an Extraordinary General Meeting of the RL Council on Wednesday October 9.
The EGM will consider proposals on the structure of the professional competitions, restoring promotion and relegation to the Super League, club sustainability and player development.
The EGM follows an extensive consultation process with all levels of the game over the last six months, including direct engagement with supporters of clubs at all levels from Super League, the Kingstone Press Championships and the Community game.
The fan engagement has included an RFL Fans Forum, involving supporters’ representatives from across Super League and Kingstone Press Championships clubs, and #AskTheRFL – a live online fans question and answer session with RFL Chief Executive Nigel Wood and Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer.
The RFL has actively used social media to engage with Rugby League supporters across the whole country during the consultation process. The Fans Forum, held in Brighouse in July, was also available live via social media to fans and received hundreds of live interactions on the night.
While the #AsktheRFL online lunchtime question and answer session received over 1,000 questions during the first hour and had to be extended to meet the interest from fans.
Commenting on the consultation process, RFL Chief Operating Officer Ralph Rimmer said: “Engagement with clubs, players and fans has been an important part of the on-going Policy Review consultation process.
“We have held a series of meetings with all stakeholders in the game and tried to use a number of different innovative and accessible approaches to explain the proposals directly to fans and answer their questions.
“It is clear from speaking to fans directly during the consultation process that there is a desire to see more matches with more at stake during the regular season and this is something that is a fundamental part of the new league structure proposals.”