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Rea: Delighted for Wales

All the sides that have missed out need to realise that their businesses are not gone, they have just missed out this time and they need to regroup and start building for the next time round.

Tony Rea
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Tony Rea is delighted that the Celtic Crusaders and Salford City Reds have been joined the 12 current Super League clubs in being handed Super League licences for the next three years.

The news means that Wales will have a team in Super League for the first time from next season. The Crusaders, based in Bridgend, are currently third in National League One.

"This is a very exciting time for Wales," said Rea on Sky Sports News.

"They have just entered into the Super League which is very historic. It is a big moment for them and they have worked very hard to get there.

"Salford will also be very relieved, Manchester get a team into the Super League as well. Obviously the process has been very thorough and they know more than us and we need to applaud this decision. We have see expansion in Super League and Wales are in.

"To go from 12 to 14 teams they did not want to expand just in the heartland of England. They wanted to bring in new teams. So this is terrific news for Wales.

"They will have to do a lot of work to get ready for next year, but given the three year license let's judge them in three years time. Their biggest challenge will be their fan base.

"It is a rugby union stronghold down there and they will be introducing a new sport down there. But league is played in summer so there is a good differential there for the aspiring fans. They are in the big league, playing with the big boys."

Rea also had words of encouragement for those clubs that were not granted a licence and said that the likes of Widnes, Halifax, Leigh, Featherstone and Toulouse can build for the next time.

"We should mention Widnes, that was one we all thought was going to be close and they have done some great work there. They will feel disappointed which is understandable," added Rea.

"Where does Widnes go from here? Well they get better. They missed out for a reason and those reasons will be explained to them and they have got three years to work on sorting those reasons out.

"All the sides that have missed out need to realise that their businesses are not gone, they have just missed out this time and they need to regroup and start building for the next time round.

"This is the right move for the sport. Everyone in the sport agrees, even sides that have missed out like Widnes support this. It gives you time to grow something properly and when they do finally get in they will be the stronger for it."

One of the concerns about not having relegation is the excitement levels, but Rea says that rugby league should not be compared with other sports and while relegation works well for football, it does not necessarily work with league.

"The relegation thing is so exciting and I understand that," explained Rea.

"It is exciting for the fans and good for drama, but it is bad for business.

"Looking forward in a very commercial world where you have TV licenses and deals that drive all sports.

"League is not like football, you have salary caps and you have play-offs. My point is that that the team at the bottom of this year's Super League, could realistically win the thing in three years time.

"That is not realistic in football because of so many other parameters and I think this is the right direction for this business."