JAMIE JONES-BUCHANAN has two ways of securing the future of Super League for another 30 years – by collaborating and not moaning.
When Leeds entered the new summer competition against Warrington in 1996, he was a teenage fan stood on Headingley’s South Stand.
Now as the Rhinos face the same opponents three decades to the day of that opening match, Paris v Sheffield, he runs the club as chief executive after winning eight titles as a player.
Yet despite reaching the landmark, much talk about rugby league’s future circles, with an NRL buy-in or takeover dominating.
However, after being part of a winning team on the field, an iconic moment away from it – when Kevin Sinfield carried another former team-mate, Rob Burrow, over the line of the first marathon in the city in the latter’s name – can also point the way forward.
Jones-Buchanan, who insists powerbrokers ‘have a duty to hold people to account’ said: “When Kev carried Rob, it was, for me, the essence of what made us so successful.
“For us, to collaborate brings about some amazing things.
“Look around this place and how much it’s changed. It’s almost a shining example of how Super League clubs should be run.
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“It’s a definition of leadership, distributed stewardship, finding good people and surrounding yourself with good people to try to articulate a vision.
“Rhodri Jones at RL Commercial would say, ‘We need support, not life support.’ I’d buy into that.
“It’s got to be a joint decision that everybody bought into, otherwise we won’t get anywhere.
“We’ve collaborated well at points, but it can be like a Rubik’s Cube, However, most things make sense with enough information.
“We just need to work together, trust that people are doing it for the good of the game and eventually, through a bit of sacrifice, they’ll get to where they need to be.
“There’s nothing wrong with rugby league being this northern working class game but let’s be more than that. Let’s not copy and paste football, golf or any other lucrative game and expect rugby league to be there.
“Just think differently, collaborate well, pick a destination and wherever we all want to go we’ll get there for sure.”
Progress over the 30 years of Super League cannot be denied, off the field anyway. Just a look at the stadia the sport is played in now is testament to that.
Yet it has also done a roaring trade in self-flagellation. Listen to some and they still want it to be played in winter.
Only five clubs – Leeds, Bradford, Wigan, St Helens and Hull KR – have won it and for all the successes, there are disasters like Celtic Crusaders, Toronto Wolfpack and, most recently, Salford.
There are arguments over there being too many clubs, what is the point of Magic Weekend and the £21.5 million-a-year TV deal with Sky, which has dwindled from £40 million.
A current whinge is the length of video referee referrals, but Jones-Buchanan counters that.
He added: “I hear people whingeing about rugby league all the time. It melts my mind.
“A few weeks ago, we were all banging on about how long things take. There was a stat that said something like the game length had increased by a minute and 40 seconds.
“That week, I’d been to watch a game that lasted five days anyway, when India played England in cricket. Nobody was moaning about the fact it took a working week to complete.
“Everybody was buzzing because they’re in the venue they’re enjoying, watching a game they’re enjoying.
“I’d also watched a football game that lasted well over 100 minutes, Leeds v Liverpool, and it was one of the highlights of the weekend.
“Yet in the game we all think is the best in the world and we all love, we’re all whinging that it’s two minutes longer.
“Also, we moaned about the fact that we didn’t have every game on TV. Now we’ve got every game on, but we’re moaning that we can’t record every game!”
