Leeds Rhinos chief Jamie Jones-Buchanan 'mega-excited' by NRL involvement as Super League celebrates 30 years
Leeds Rhinos chief executive Jamie Jones-Buchanan is “mega-excited” at the prospect of closer links between Super League and the southern hemisphere NRL.
The European competition celebrates its 30th anniversary on Sunday, when Rhinos take on Warrington Wolves at Headingley in a repeat of a game from its inaugural round. And the sport could be heading for a shake up as huge as the switch from winter to summer rugby in 1996 if the NRL goes through with plans to buy a stake in Super League.
The competition Down Under is understood to be considering a £250m investment in return for a say in how Super League is run and Jones-Buchanan reckons that would be a massive boost for the code in this country. “The NRL wants to be watched by people overseas and the best way to do that, you’d think, is to help nurture the other competition and get it up to speed,” he said.
“It’s a bit like Leeds and Bradford - we need that connection. I am mega-excited, I think it’s a bit of magic. There’s so much stuff in rugby league that’s done well, I think if we can draw upon that and keep highlighting the good things, I am really optimistic.”
Sunday is 30 years to the day since Super League’s opening fixture, which saw Paris St Germain beat Sheffield Eagles in the French capital. Jones-Buchanan was a fan in the South Stand when Leeds - not yet known as Rhinos - lost 22-18 to Warrington at Headingley in the clubs’ first match, on March 31, 1996.
He went on to spend 20 years with Rhinos as a player and took over from Gary Hetherington as chief executive last autumn. Leeds finished third from bottom on the 1996 table, but won eight Super League titles between 2004 and 2017.
“My memories are of growing up in the South Stand, watching my heroes,” Jones-Buchanan - who will run next month’s London Marathon for the Community Integrated Care charity - recalled. “There was a lot of animosity around in 1996; Leeds Rugby League Club were one of the clubs who didn’t want to change at the time.
“But now I reflect on it, I think if it hadn’t, we wouldn’t have what we’ve got now. What the Rhinos have become is pretty special and we need to preserve that.”
The club has been transformed on and off the pitch over the past 30 years and Jones-Buchanan added: “I’d put that down to Gary [Hetherington], the team he built and the people he put in place. The perception of Leeds back then was the aristocrats, who maybe tried to solve problems by spending more money.
“The ended up with nobody coming to the facilities and being in debt and then Gary took over and put some values and ideas in place that included money, but didn’t revolve around it. It was about people, about doing well on a weekly basis on the field, but also going out into the community.
“He also wanted to create facilities that are world-class and we had to be sustainable. I think for the most part, we have been. The wider economy of rugby league and sport at the minute is not the best, but Gary has been amazing with the way he dealt with that over the years.”
Players from the 1996 game have been invited to Sunday’s fixture, including Iestyn Harris who starred for Warrington that day, but captained Leeds to Challenge Cup victory three years later.