Leeds Rhinos chief warns new £12m loan 'won't go down well' with fans

With the latest cash injection being mainly in the form of loans, Hetherington also has concerns over clubs taking on long-term debt, but Rugby Football League boss Ralph Rimmer insists the sport got what it asked for.

Of the 11 sports to receive a share of the government’s £300m allocation, rugby union will be handed the biggest slice - a total of £135m.

From that, £44m will go to the Rugby Football Union, £59m to Premiership Rugby clubs, £9m to clubs in the Championship and £23m to clubs below the Championship.

Rugby league will receive £12m, on top of a £16m loan in May.

The funding is in response to the coronavirus pandemic which has led to most live sport being played behind closed doors, since April.

Hetherington said: “Rugby league is under threat and the game obviously welcomes any financial support from government.”

But he warned: “Rugby league clubs and fans in the north of England will certainly compare themselves with rugby union clubs and fans in the rest of the country, who have fared better.

“Premiership rugby union had [last season] only one club in the north and has recently benefited from £260m from private equity.

“They have been granted £59m - more than twice that given to the whole of professional rugby league, including all of its Super League and Championship clubs who are integral to their towns and communities.

“This extra financial support is another loan, which while providing short-term relief also saddles clubs with longer-term debt, so, overall, I don’t think this news will go down well with sports fans in the north.”

But Rimmer, the RFL chief executive, stressed: “We made a calculation based on lost ticket revenue.

“Each of the two asks were bespoke requirements for what the sport needs, the government has now responded twice and delivered what we asked for.

“I am not really bothered about rugby union, they will determine whatever is sustainable for them.

“The first ask lifted us above every other sport, the second ask gives us an ability, provided we use it responsibly, to stabilise the sport, manage our way through to some sustainable growth and give us a bright future.

“We can’t just borrow millions of pounds because the clubs have got to pay it back. We got to exactly where we wanted to be.”

He went on: “In all of this dramatic Covid landscape, we have definitely improved where we are in terms of influence at government level.

“We are on the phone with them on a daily basis at different levels and we are making ourselves heard.”

Rimmer confirmed all 10 English-based Super League clubs, as well as a number in the Championship and League One, have received an allocation from the initial £16m loan.

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