The coming week is a crucial one for the Rugby Football League as they discuss a new television deal for Super League and international matches.

Their present arrangement with BSkyB expires at the end of the current season and if reports are to be believed they are willing to offer a further £53million for five more years.

Such money is not to be sniffed at, especially as it represents a slight increase on the amount accepted last time.

But it seems that not all clubs are happy with the proposal, with the big five of St Helens, Bradford, Wigan, Leeds and Hull apparently ready to dig in and wait for a better offer.

Another bone of contention, if it is correct, is Sky's insistence that the Challenge Cup final should not be moved to a date later than May.

The BBC, who cover this listed competition, have expressed a desire for it to be played later in the year but Sky would not be happy with the disruption it would cause to their Super League coverage.

Attempts should definitely be made to talk Sky out of this, as no TV company should be able to stipulate when the RFL arranges its fixtures.

But if they are unwilling to budge, a decision needs to be made quickly on whether the game can afford to lose Sky.

Sky have been a credit to the game with their expert and in-depth coverage of Super League. No terrestrial broadcaster would be able, or even willing, to match their commitment. Peoples' main gripe with them is that not enough people have access to satellite or cable TV and that potential new viewers are lost.

This is a fair point, but beyond the latter stages of the play-offs and the Grand Final, it is hard to see a terrestrial channel stepping forward with a bid to show regular Super League matches.

If there was, it might be worth even considering a drop in income to accept it but as there doesn't seem to be, it is not worth the risk of losing Sky.

If the Sky deal is not accepted soon, they will walk away and take their business elsewhere. It might cost them a few subscribers but let's not kid ourselves that rugby league is vitally important to their portfolio.

They will break the bank to keep the English Premiership, and only that. Everything else is expendable.

Proof of that is what happened in Scottish football last year. The Scottish Premier League clubs felt they could get better money than Sky were offering and turned them down, expecting them to return with a better offer.

But it did not happen as Rupert Murdoch's company simply walked away and left the SPL with no broadcast deal whatsoever.

To remedy this, an ambitious project to launch their own channel, 'SPL TV', was undertaken. It sounded a good idea but Rangers and Celtic had their doubts and pulled out, plunging the league into a period of turmoil. They ended up having to take peanuts from the BBC to ensure games were shown on TV.

The lesson to be learned from this, is don't mess with Sky. The risk of having nothing is too great.

If they can turn down Rangers and Celtic, bigger and more lucrative clubs than Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos will ever be, they can turn down Super League.

In any case, for the enthusiast, their coverage offers great value for money. Looking at recent cricket coverage, when Channel 4 simply decided not to bother showing the closing hour's play in Test matches, you realise if you want the best you have to be prepared to pay for it.

It is important though that rugby league retains a presence on free-to-air TV. Why then does Super League have to be lumped in a bundle with international matches and the National League?

Can a couple of million less not be accepted in order to get internationals on the BBC? Can a National League highlights or magazine-type programme not be given away, even if only to Five to show at 3am?

If the BBC are threatening to confine their Challenge Cup coverage to the latter rounds in future because of when it is played, that is a problem, but hopefully not insurmountable. If they can shunt bowls to BBC2 when they find something better to show on Grandstand, they can surely do the same for rugby league, and that, as long as you've read the TV Times, wouldn't be all that bad.

It would be nice to think there was a bigger pot at the end of the rainbow but it isn't there. The heady £87million days of the mid-1990s are gone for now and the amount being offered by Sky this time does not compare unfavourably, in relative terms, to what they pay for the Zurich Premiership and Nationwide League.

Rugby league has had enough cash crises in recent times to risk another.