PAUL Crarey believes the RFL's decision to bring in a cup competition for Betfred Championship and League One sides with a Wembley final is a sign rugby league outside of Super League is turning the corner.

Announced last week, the 1895 Cup is set to feature clubs from the lower two tiers of the professional game, excluding overseas sides Toronto Wolfpack and Toulouse Olympique, with the decider being held as a curtain-raiser for the Challenge Cup final.

And after a tumultuous few months towards the end of the 2018 season which saw a power struggle between Super League clubs and the governing body, Barrow Raiders head coach Crarey sees things starting to move in the right direction.

"The game is starting to grow again, I feel, with the internationals and TV stuff going on, and the promotion of the game – and that's what need to be done," said Crarey.

"You've got to keep throwing stuff out there for people to buy into and you can't just have it for the elite clubs at the top. The lower clubs are the ones who feed the bigger clubs.

"If it wasn't for a team like Swinton, with their dual-registration, all the players who can't get in at Wigan would have nowhere to play.

"They can't go and play in Toulouse or Toronto, but they can play at those clubs and without those clubs, the game is going to die. Everything should be about the game and not about the big clubs running the game."

Full details for the 1895 Cup are due to be confirmed this Sunday when the fixtures for the 2019 Championship and League One seasons are published, although it is understood the 12 Championship teams involved will enter at the last 16 stage.