Championship would benefit from more TV

The second tier competition is not regularly televised, but Marshall’s Halifax were beaten 24-12 at Featherstone Rovers, coached by Sharp, in a thrilling Challenge Cup sixth round tie which was broadcast live on Sky Sports.

It was an outstanding advert for rugby league below Super League and Marshall said: “I’d love the Championship to be on television more often.

“Obviously there would be an impact on crowd figures, but in terms of sponsorship and the exposure it would be great.

“The level of competition is not far off. We aspire to be a top team in our competition and some exposure would be welcome.

“The earlier Cup rounds were streamed on the BBC website and that was fantastic. [Thursday’s] game was on Sky, it was an evening game and all the players were excited about that.

“If that could be made a regular feature it would be fantastic because there is some good talent in the Championship. We have several young players who are really prospering and developing at our club.”

Sharp echoed Marshall’s comments. He said: “The Championship is a good competition.

“There’s some good teams in there and some good individual players as well.

“It is very competitive every week and both teams demonstrated they are good footballing teams.

“We had won our last four and they had won their last seven. Games between Featherstone and Halifax are always tough, but we handled the occasion well.”

Rovers’ win came at a price with centre Chris Ulugia (suspected fractured ankle) and winger Luke Briscoe (ankle ligaments) suffering what could be long-term injuries.