Martin Offiah believes victory in England’s Ashes next year would be a major boost for rugby league in this country – and help the sport become bigger than rugby union.
Global sports marketing agency IMG, which is working with the RFL to reimagine rugby league, told Mail Sport that their mission is to make the 13-a-side code Britain’s No. 2 sport after football.
IMG has identified international sport as a key area for growth and England will host Australia in the first Ashes series in 21 years next autumn.
The Kangaroos are the reigning world champions and have not lost an Ashes since 1970 – which were historically played against Great Britain.
But speaking exclusively to Mail Sport, British and Wigan legend Offiah, 58, said: ‘If we can win the Ashes next year it would reverberate around the world. You need something phenomenal to grow the sport and the Ashes is a golden opportunity.
Martin Offiah believes rugby league has the potential to replace union as a sport in Britain
Rugby League in Great Britain is currently undergoing a major overhaul led by IMG
In May 2022, IMG signed a 12-year deal to ‘reinvent’ rugby league in the UK
“Rugby League is so big in Australia, but there it can come back to us and help us grow and become bigger than Rugby Union. If the Super League becomes bigger than the NRL, then we become bigger than the union.
‘We have to start thinking differently. Rugby League’s first mistake is saying they want to be number 2 because that’s their mentality.
‘You rephrase that to say, ‘I want rugby league to be bigger than it’s ever been in this country.’ You have to shoot for the stars.
‘Life is about meaning. There could be a great sports code on Mars, but we don’t know anything about it, so it means nothing. We have to think big.’
Offiah believes one thing holding back his beloved sport is the salary cap, which limits Super League clubs to spending no more than £2.1million per season. By contrast, in Australia the NRL allows teams to spend £5.8 million per year.
When asked whether the system should be demolished, Offiah replied: ‘Of course. It came in with the Super League because they didn’t want Wigan to win it all, but all it did was put pressure on everything.
‘What makes you think you can be the biggest sport with the lowest wages? Who told you this is a possibility?
“It’s like me saying I want Connected Kerb, a company I’m involved with, to be the largest electric vehicle charging company in the world, yet we pay all of our employees less than any other EV charging company.
‘If I sit in the crowd and watch a match, and I earn more than the people on the pitch, do you think I respect them? Do you think I want my children to aspire to be them?”
Offiah had many battles against Australia while playing on the wing for England and believes if his country can topple the Kangaroos next year it will be huge for British rugby league
The growing international rugby competition in England is a key focus for IMG within their twelve-year plan
Super League clubs are allowed to have a maximum of three ‘big players’, where they can pay the wages they can afford, with only a maximum of £150,000, calculated against the salary cap.
Offiah believes rugby league has ‘missed a trick’ by not luring Owen Farrell, the Wigan-born former England rugby union captain, back to the sport he started as a teenager, rather than letting him leave Saracens for Racing 92 in France.
“If I was in rugby league I would have paid Owen Farrell £10 million, a bit like Toronto with Sonny Bill Williams in 2020,” says Offiah, who started and ended his career in the union and whose 18-year-old son Tyler scored a goal. tried to make his debut for Bath last weekend.
‘No one watches Farrell in France. But if they could have paid him £10 million and brought him to Wigan, the Brick Community Stadium would have been full every week, and not just with Wigan fans.
‘You only need one. Look at the UFC model. As long as Conor McGregor makes millions and millions, that’s enough. You can let it grow and grab your attention.”
Offiah still works as an ambassador for Super League champions Wigan, where he won every club trophy after joining from Widnes in 1992 for a then world record fee of £440,000.
‘Chariots’ was inducted into the RFL Hall of Fame and is one of five greats to grace the rugby league statue outside Wembley, along with Eric Ashton, Billy Boston, Alex Murphy and Gus Risman.
“That was the best move they ever made,” laughs Offiah. “If I wasn’t on it, that statue wouldn’t mean anything because no one knows the others there.”
However, Offiah has a serious point about how he became a household name – and how the current generation needs to market themselves more.
“Rugby League didn’t make me, I made myself,” he says. “I went out and appeared on every reality TV show in the country. I’ve always gone out and talked to the press.
‘I understood what was unique about me. I’m a Nigerian from London, the biggest name in a northern sport.
“I understood marketing myself and created a brand for myself. When rugby league invites me again as guest of honour, I will wear a pink suit because it stands out.
‘I left Wigan in 1996, yet I can walk down the streets of Wigan and people will bow their heads, buy me drinks, ask for autographs.
‘What Bevan French has done at Wigan is phenomenal. But my son, who plays for Bath and hasn’t even made his Premier League debut yet, has had more columns written about him than Bevan French.
‘Junior Nsemba at Wigan has the world at his feet. He’s a superstar. If he can help England beat Australia in the Ashes next year, he will become the greatest rugby league star this country has ever seen, because that is of national importance.
‘But Junior has to do it himself. Like most things in life, it depends on you as an individual.”
Offiah transcended the sport during his time, opening himself up to multiple media opportunities
Offiah is baffled that IMG and the RFL have not got him on board as they look to revolutionize the sport.
“If there’s anyone you need to talk to, it’s me,” he says. “I’m the only person in rugby league who has made a name for himself and can go to Twickenham or wherever and still be recognised. No one else has done that.”
Offiah also has experience in cracking the capital. He helped raise awareness of rugby league in London during his three years with the Broncos, then owned by Virgin magnate Richard Branson.
However, the London club were relegated from the Super League this year, meaning French team Catalans Dragons will be the only team outside Yorkshire and Lancashire in the top flight next season.
When asked how the game could grow again in London, Offiah says: ‘It needs a colourful, charismatic figure like Richard Branson.
‘It took Richard Branson to get me out of Wigan. He flew me down in a helicopter and sold me a dream.
‘He walked the London Broncos in the 1999 Challenge Cup final. That was our moment but we didn’t take it.’
The London Broncos will not be playing in the Super League next year, but the city is an untapped market
Offiah played for the capital club between 1996 and 1999, helping to raise awareness of the sport
In any case, Offiah hopes that rugby league will be recognized at the BBC Sports Personality of the Year next month, thanks to the achievements of his former club Wigan.
Matt Peet’s Warriors won four trophies this season, including the World Club Challenge, a replica of Offiah’s team’s 1994 feat.
“Hopefully Wigan will be Team of the Year, Matty Peet will be Coach of the Year and Bevan French will be Overseas Sports Personality of the Year,” Offiah added.
“If these things happen it will be the best thing to happen in rugby league since the Wigan team I played with – and they would deserve it.”