“It really works in England”: Former NRL forward reveals opinion on promotion and relegation

Former Penrith Panthers, Wests Tigers, Melbourne Storm, Castleford Tigers and Featherstone Rovers forward Junior Moors has revealed he doesn’t believe promotion and releation is a viable concept in Australian rugby league.

The concept is used with success in England as teams bounce up and down the tiers, keeping games competitive when they otherwise wouldn’t be at the back end.

It’s an issue that plagues the NRL during the back-end of seasons with multiple dead-rubber style games, but Moors, speaking on Rugby League Outlaws Super Duper Saturday show, said he doesn’t believe the concept would work in Australia with teams in the second tier simply not ready to make the step up.

“It would work if we had enough teams that were capable to play in the NRL. I think there isn’t,” Moors told the show.

Watch the full interview from approximately 5:45pm (AEDT) in the Rugby League Outlaws live stream below.

“I think the teams below don’t have the capabilities to play in the NRL when it comes to venues and stuff like that.

“If that was the case, it would be good. I think it really works in England because over here at the moment if you get to the top eight and you get the last couple of rounds in the season, you get some dead rubber games. There is no real reason to watch it.

“It solves that problem because in England, if teams are at the bottom, they are fighting to stay out of relegation. There ends up being two competitions at the end and every game is exciting to watch. I think that’s the big draw for it, but logistically, I don’t think it would work [in Australia].”

Moors also talks about the start of his career, Craig Bellamy and Samoa’s rise in rugby league.