A “MAKE OR BREAK” moment awaits rugby league as the RFL is under pressure to restructure the leagues, Cumbrian RL bosses have reacted to the news.

The Rugby Football League is currently in discussions about the restructuring of the sport and rumours about the future are abound.

None of the reports are as yet confirmed but one suggestion is that the RFL are under pressure from Sky to create a new Super League format involving elite clubs with ten teams in a second tier that would be given the title Super League 2.

The remaining 16 clubs would play together in a third tie competition.

The restructure would only come into effect in 2023 as next season would see 14 clubs in Super League, with no relegation this year and the top two clubs in the Betfred Championship promoted into the competition.

But at the end of the 2022 season four clubs would be relegated from Super League into the newly former Super League Two.

There has also been a suggestion that upper echelon rugby league could be boiled down to 10 teams, in the hope that this would create competitive weekly fixtures and an attractive investment opportunity for broadcasters.

Whitehaven RL CEO Andrew Canavan said: “The game, in my opinion, has been in decline for quite a long time. I feel the constant tinkering to it has been one of a number of reasons for the decline.

“How many of the other top five sports have seen the same amount of restructuring to its main show piece as we have seen in rugby league? Is yet another change to the structure of the game the answer to the problem?

“Some may say it is, likely those who will benefit from it, while others who will be a loser in any potential restructuring would say no.

“There are pro’s and con’s to every scenario I have seen brought to the table, some I could agree to others are nothing short of protectionist and farcical.

“I obviously cannot get into the detail of what are sensitive and confidential discussion, despite others happily leaking things to their favoured members of the press, but the sport is heading, very quickly, into a decision that will either make or break the sport.”

Speaking earlier in the week, Chris Thorman, head coach of League 1 side Workington Town spoke of blocking out distractions and noise around Coronavirus, and now, the restructuring.

“We’ve just got to focus on ourselves and control the controllables. In rugby league there’s always noise, there’s always background noise. I was in a meeting today with the RFL about the restructuring of the leagues, no doubt in the coming weeks there’ll be noise around that.”