IMG Gradings confirmed

[Pippedatthepostagain]

Will teams need to wait for next years grading announcement to know which division they will be in for 2026.
Grade A clubs cant be relegated , but some clubs are only just above that mark , and they could fall below it during the season , and then be in danger of going down ?

[nathan_rugby]

Will teams need to wait for next years grading announcement to know which division they will be in for 2026.
Grade A clubs cant be relegated , but some clubs are only just above that mark , and they could fall below it during the season , and then be in danger of going down ?

Yeah, the gradings are done yearly. So at the end of next year, if a Championship club gets an A grade, then a Super League club will get relegated. Unless all current Super League clubs get an A, then it will either be:
1 - Expand the league
2 - Relegate the lowest scored A team

The whole thing hasn't been thought through at all. Clubs are going to find out too late if they are promoted/relegated and it will impact recruitment.

Most likely clubs will know what their current score is and will be so there shouldn't be any surprises.

[Mike]

Will teams need to wait for next years grading announcement to know which division they will be in for 2026.
Grade A clubs cant be relegated , but some clubs are only just above that mark , and they could fall below it during the season , and then be in danger of going down ?

Yeah, the gradings are done yearly. So at the end of next year, if a Championship club gets an A grade, then a Super League club will get relegated. Unless all current Super League clubs get an A, then it will either be:
1 - Expand the league
2 - Relegate the lowest scored A team

The whole thing hasn't been thought through at all. Clubs are going to find out too late if they are promoted/relegated and it will impact recruitment.

Most likely clubs will know what their current score is and will be so there shouldn't be any surprises.

It is a 3 year rolling grading though, so its unlikely your scores will change significantly year on year. It will potentially be hard for borderline A/B SL clubs though. The only real threat right now is if you're the lowest SL B graded club and there is a borderline A/B champioship club with potential to improve that rating. Then you're in jeopardy. Outside of that, you're staying where you are.

Does anyone have a link to the full list, ideally broken down into all the scores?

Looks like Toulouse are the most likely to be able to advance to grade A. They need under 1.5 points and could potentially find that with tactical targeting of resources like Cas did. We'd need to see where they can improve and how viable that is though really.

[Mike]

One thing I'm not clear on is will the B graded teams be reshuffled every season? Or will you have to get an A grade to get up into SL from this point onwards?

[ancientnloyal]

I can’t understand how Wakey got Grade A for a lower-tier trophy haul.

Toulouse will see that by pumping in money for 2025 they could be a grade A .

I wish all clubs strive to be better but some grading baffles.

Saints yes, they’ve been successful over the past 4 years bar this.

Academy’s IMO should carry more weight. A strong and healthy reserve comp is a must have. A clear pathway that possibly can be a third tier competition akin to U21 PL football clubs playing in cup comps against league one and 2 sodes

[Mike]

On field performance is only worth 25% of the points, and Wakey were only 1 place below SL on that criteria over the last three seasons. And they got bonus points for winning the Championship I believe.

Academy doesn't count at all which IMO is because IMG have no incentive to think that long term. Their contract is not long enough to see a benefit from youth production. IMG are in this for themselves, not for the good of the game. They make money if the game grows over the period of the contract. If it collapses after that - well IMG don't care, they just won't renew.

[ancientnloyal]

I have heard from Eddie Hearn himself (believe it or not, away from his stuff we read in media) he really wants control of RL.

Imagine a WCC in Saudi for example and a proper platform to showcase the sport. Got to be much better than IMG which has taken now years to do something

[Pippedatthepostagain]

On the Leigh Leopards website , they explain that until a few weeks ago , they were expecting an extra 0.15 points , but they were told that the LSV Big Screen did not comply with RL regulations.Imagine if your team were banking on those points re a borderline grading.

[Mike]

On the Leigh Leopards website , they explain that until a few weeks ago , they were expecting an extra 0.15 points , but they were told that the LSV Big Screen did not comply with RL regulations.Imagine if your team were banking on those points re a borderline grading.

I guess you should check the requirements then?

[Mike]

I have heard from Eddie Hearn himself (believe it or not, away from his stuff we read in media) he really wants control of RL.

Imagine a WCC in Saudi for example and a proper platform to showcase the sport. Got to be much better than IMG which has taken now years to do something

Sportswashing.