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Super League is heading for a "train crash" if it does not find ways to grow its revenue, the head of Australia's NRL has warned.
Peter V'landys, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, told BBC Sport that the English elite game must look at restructuring its governance.
He also claimed that Super League has missed a major marketing opportunity by not having London Broncos in next season's competition, and questioned how it will support an expanded 14-team structure in the long term.
V'landys held talks with a number of Super League clubs and governing body the RFL in London on Tuesday.
While he said the meeting was because Warrington owner Simon Moran and his Wigan counterpart Mike Danson had asked him to "assist" the English game, he also confirmed that the NRL taking a stake in Super League was "an option".
But in an exclusive interview, one of the most powerful figures in Australian sport said any investment depended on "independent decision making", while he also dismissed the idea of the NRL setting up its own competition in Europe.
V'landys believes English rugby league is a strong product, but has major concerns about its business plan, with the current UK television broadcast deal due to come to an end at the conclusion of the 2026 season.
"All we've done is analyse the financial viability and I can see a train crash if they don't get the broadcast revenue they need to sustain a 14-team competition," he said.
"And it all comes back to the finances, and that's because eventually people will stop wanting to put money in their pockets and sustain losses, and that's what they're going to be doing in the short term, unless they can increase their revenue from broadcast."
The RFL and RL Commercial - the body that manages its commercial rights - confirmed they attended Tuesday's meeting with V'landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo, and Super League clubs.
Nigel Wood, RL Commercial's chair and an RFL senior executive director, said: "It was an excellent meeting, positive and progressive in every way, with much to build on. We look forward to discussions continuing."
V'landys said that there is no concrete offer in place for the NRL to buy into Super League, but added that any deal would depend on the creation of an independent governing body.
Asked about the NRL taking a Super League stake, he said: "We could. That's an option, if that's what they want us to do.
"There has to be structural corporate governance change for that to happen. You need an independent body to operate the competition and that's one of the reasons Australia has been so successful in rugby league. It's totally independent.
"You've got to have independent decision making, because the independent decision making always acts in the best interests of the game as a whole and not for individual interest groups.
"We're just here out of loyalty to Mike Danson and Simon Moran to listen, and if there is a way we can help, we will help. But we're not here to force ourselves on anyone or be part of anything. We're here to listen and hopefully be able to assist."
V'landys saw Australia beat England 26-6 at Wembley on Saturday, in front of 60,812 fans, a record crowd for a Rugby League Ashes Test in the UK.
He argues that is proof of the interest in the sport in England - but feels the game's authorities have not helped themselves, suggesting a city the size of London should have a team in Super League.
London Broncos, who are subject to Australian investment with Kangaroos legend Darren Lockyer among their backers, missed out on a place in the recently expanded Super League for next season.
Instead, Bradford Bulls were promoted earlier this month at the expense of Salford Red Devils under the competition's grading system, and Toulouse and York selected to join them by an independent panel.
Prior the announcement, the Broncos had already appointed former South Sydney Rabbitohs boss Jason Demetriou on a three-year deal to become their head coach and signed former Australia international Reagan Campbell-Gillard and Tonga hooker Siliva Havili for next season.
V'landys said: "London should have been the first one that they picked, because if you're going to market something, you've got to market to a populous city.
"You've got to grow your revenues. Sponsors would be interested in London. And they've lost that opportunity, in this round anyway. So yeah, they've got to be able to market the game better than they are at the moment... they haven't got the structure right at the moment to be able to take the product forward."
When asked about Super League's expansion to 14 teams, V'landys said, "Are they going to get extra broadcast revenue? Are they going to get extra eyeballs? Are they going to get extra participation? That hasn't been explained.
"There's been no plan. They've got to have a road map and a plan moving forward for the next 10 years. Because 10 years comes very quickly and unless you have that plan, you're going in all directions with no purpose.
"There have certainly been some positives. Their attendances have improved, their ratings have improved, but you've also got to have a very strong financial base and at the moment that's not there."
V'landys has indicated that NRL investment in Super League would bring the competitions closer together.
He said: "Ideally in the long term, you'd have the club in Australia having a brother or sister club in England, and they share the resources, they share the players and so on."
But pressed on whether that meant Super League teams acting as feeder clubs, he added: "No, no, no. I wouldn't be saying that one's more powerful than the other. We'll be feeding them, and they'll be feeding us. It's a two-way street.
"So some of our young up-and-coming players could be playing in Super League to develop, and some of the Super League players could be playing in the NRL to develop. So it's not a feeder club as such. It's sharing the resources."
V'landys is adamant that whatever interest NRL takes in English rugby league, it would not involve setting up a separate European competition.
"No," he said. "For us, it's philosophical. We want England to be strong. If you're going to have a global game, you need England to be as strong as possible. So we don't want to see them wilt. We want to see them succeed.
"So it would be against our best interest if they do run into a train crash because we want them strong."
