Leeds Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington explains London Broncos link amid NRL interest

According to the Sun on Sunday, NRL giants Brisbane Broncos are in “advanced talks” about investing in their namesake club, under a deal brokered by Hetherington. London were relegated from Betfred Super League to the Championship last year and long-term owner David Hughes’ decision to step down left their future in serious doubt, despite them making significant progress on the IMG ranking table.

Hetherington, who founded and ran Sheffield Eagles before moving to Leeds 29 years ago, has helped other clubs in a similar situation and is a keen supporter of rugby league in London. Though he relinquished part of his Rhinos role to new sporting director Ian Blease midway through 2024, he remains in overall charge of the club.

Outlining his involvement with London, Hetherington said: “When David Hughes - who I have known for 30 years or so - announced he was coming out of London Broncos, I was in conversation with Jason Loubser, who is their chief executive. He said they have a real problem because they don’t have any other owners and need to find new ownership.

“He asked if there was anybody I know who might be interested and I said ‘there isn’t, but I’ll get my head around it’, so for the past two or three months I have been working privately, behind the scenes, just to try to identify who might be interested and so on.

“That is what I am still doing. I talked it through with [Rhinos chairman] Paul Caddick at the time and he is very supportive of London and rugby league in the south of England, as I am. I have always been an advocate of London and I’ve said if there’s any way I can help, I’ll be keen to do so. But I am not coming out of Leeds Rhinos, my position there is unaffected.”

Without new backers, London’s hopes of returning to Super League look bleak. Hetherington added: “London had a single owner in David Hughes. They’ve never really had an organisation, they’ve just had a team.

“Now he has pulled out, it has left them very vulnerable, so I have been working behind the scenes just to help them and to identify people who could add value to their operation and become an owner of the place. Those discussions are continuing while I am in Australia. I’m here basically on a family holiday - my daughter lives just outside Sydney - but while I am here I will have discussions with people and encourage them to get involved.”

However, he stressed: “I have been doing what I can to help London, but I am chief executive of Leeds Rhinos and my position there is unaffected. Paul [Caddick] has been fully aware of my involvement with London Broncos and is a big supporter of that. He is as keen as I am that they get on a level footing and hopefully prosper in the future.”

Brisbane Broncos previously took ownership of the capital club in 1994, renaming them from London Crusaders. While Hetherington declined to comment on their involvement, he confirmed: “Quite a number of parties are showing an interest.”

Caddick rarely makes public comments, but – in a statement released by Rhinos this afternoon (Monday) – he thanked Hetherington for his support of London. The Leeds chairman said: “As a club, we have always stated our belief that, to grow our sport, we need to expand our base. However, if the sport can do that while also bringing in new investment and potentially creating a new ownership model, that is an exciting prospect for rugby league as a whole.

“I would like to thank Gary for taking time out of his family holiday to assist London. We are very excited about the season ahead at the Rhinos with the squad that Ian Blease and [coach] Brad Arthur have assembled and hope for a successful year, not just for our club, but the sport as a whole.”