Friday 21 July 2017 19:48, UK
Salford owner Marwan Koukash has accused some of his rivals of seeking to undermine the authority of the Rugby Football League in their bid to force through a major restructure for 2018.
In June clubs discussed the possibility of expanding Super League from 12 to 13 or even 14 teams and a vote could take place in August to bring in the change for next year.
Koukash, speaking at a press conference at the AJ Bell Stadium to unveil the Red Devils' new signings Manu Vatuvei and Tyrone McCarthy, also revealed a plan to take money from clubs outside Super League to help fund the extra team in the top flight.
Wigan are thought to be leading the push for expansion, which would mean a swift return to Super League for Hull KR and a reprieve for the teams currently threatened by relegation via the Million Pound Game.
Where are we are going to find an extra 30 Super League players without easing the restriction on imports?
Koukash, a long-standing critic of the RFL, says the proposal is unworkable, not least because it would play havoc with the 2018 Magic Weekend, and suggests there is a conspiracy theory among some of his colleagues.
"It's the most ridiculous proposal any owner of a Super League club could come up with," Koukash told the press conference.
"I feel it was put there to undermine the authority of the RFL. I'm not their biggest supporter - I still don't get on very well with them - but no one could answer my question of where the extra money is going to come from to fund the 13th team.
"I know one or two want to take it from the Championship but for me that is stealing from the poor to feed the rich and that will kill rugby league in this country.
"Also where are we are going to find an extra 30 Super League players without easing the restriction on imports? The problem we face in Super League is that there is not enough homegrown talent.
"There are one or two marquee players we'd love to bring in but we don't have the quota spots. I brought a proposal a few weeks ago to ease the restrictions and, although the RFL bought into the idea, my colleagues within Super League voted against it so unfortunately we're back to square one."
Koukash, who spearheaded the successful fight to introduce the marquee player rule, believes Super League should stick to 12 teams but would like to see changes made to the Super 8s to ensure interest does not wane towards the end of the season.
"I think 12 teams is perfect," he said. "The Middle 8s is the most exciting competition there is. We all look back at the last Million Pound Game and a lot of fans are looking forward to watching it this year.
"If there's any changes to be made, they should be made to the top eight to make every game meaningful.
"I'm suggesting that, at the end of the 30 games, the top three automatically qualify for the semi-finals, with the fourth place going to the one that performs the best out of the other five in the last seven fixtures. That way, everybody has something to play for."
Meanwhile, Salford coach Ian Watson says his new signings will come into contention for next weekend's Challenge Cup semi-final against Wigan.
Former New Zealand international winger Vatuvei trained for the first time with his new team-mates on Thursday and was therefore not considered for Friday's final league game against Leigh while former Warrington and Hull KR loose forward McCarthy did not arrive from Sydney until Thursday.
McCarthy was released early by St George Illawarra so that he could join the Red Devils and has signed a contract that runs to the end of 2020.
