Rhodri Jones defends Super League following Luke Keary criticism

Responding to Keary’s comments on BBC Radio 5 Live, Jones confirmed conversations between Super League and NRL are ongoing and said the two organisations have a “positive working relationship”.

While he understands Keary’s position, based on his successful career in Australia, he believes Super League is “heading in the right direction” and pinpointed a number of upcoming events which he hopes will change his opinion.

“[The comments] were dramatic. Luke’s entitled to his own opinion, though I’m not in agreement with what he has to say,” Jones said.

“Our figures are showing that we’re having a very positive season. Our attendances are up, our TV audience, both across Sky Sports and BBC, are up.

“[Being in France] he might be a little bit out of the mainstream in terms of seeing the positivity for the game in the UK, but he’ll get a real feel for that this weekend with Magic Weekend at St James’ Park where he’ll play in front of 65,000 people against Leigh Leopards.

“Luke has played at the top of the game in Australia and the game in Australia is very much akin to the Premier League over here.

“We’re heading in the right direction. You saw us in Las Vegas earlier in the season with Wigan and Warrington. The Ashes are coming here in the autumn with two sell-out crowds at Everton and Headingley [and] Wembley over 30,000 tickets sold.

“We’ve got Magic Weekend this weekend which is raising the profile of the competition and he’ll also be involved in a sell-out next weekend in the Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull KR.

“Luke’s been in the competition for nine rounds, he’s been in France [and] out of the mainstream. We can do a lot of things that can convince him that he’s been a little over-dramatic in his comments.”