James Graham, who played in the Super League and the NRL, pleads that multiple clubs should leave the competition and create a breakaway league.
Super League could not agree to a deal with the NRL before the 2026 Rugby League World Cup.
Although conversations will resume in 2027, the hierarchy is not fully behind the arrangement.
Peter V'landys had two requirements for the deal: promoting the London Broncos to the Super League from the Champions League and majority ownership of the Super League.
The English game is not as popular as it is in Australia, and Graham, who played for St Helens, the St George Illawarra Dragons, and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, gave a brutal assessment.
"I'm not too sure where it goes from here. I don't know the final workings of the offer and the deal or what it means, but you have to get that level of leadership and that level of vision, and the growth mindset that the NRL have had," Graham said on his podcast, The Bye Round.
"Unfortunately, rugby league in England, I say this with respect, it's becoming a niche sport. It is a niche; a lot of people in the country wouldn't know a World Cup is being played now by a rugby code. A lot of people would have no real idea of how to watch or consume that product.
"You go on the main pages of the main sports news, and it's a blip. It's becoming a niche sport, and unless it starts to get recognition, unless it changes, it'll become even more into the abyss."
England lost to Tonga 28-12 in the first round of the World Cup, and will need to defeat Samoa and France to keep their chances alive.
The highly anticipated match between England and Tonga attracted 1.03 million viewers on Channel 7 and a total reach of 2.3 million viewers, compared to the Bledisloe Cup coverage.
Graham made a bold suggestion about how the Super League could make a major shake-up.
“I think you'd be naive to think that the conversations aren't being spoken about breaking away... You'd have to. You'd have to be considering it," he said.
Shane Flanagan echoed the sentiment, hoping clubs make changes to better the competition in the long term.
“I think the big clubs over there, we see Hull and Hull KR, all of them have had seasons, but the big clubs: Wigan, St Helens, Warrington, Leeds, all them, I think they'll be looking over their shoulder and saying we want to play in a big competition, we don't want to be struggling all the time," the former coach stated.
“Their major sponsor has dropped off, so they need a main sponsor for the game. We don't know the details of the offer to them, but get on board because look at what's happened to rugby league in Australia, Samoa, Tonga, and all these places.”
