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IMG will grade clubs on five pillars next year, with the performance figures for each Super League club now known.

Hull FC will be the Super League club that will earn the least amount of IMG points from the performance pillar ahead of the final gradings at the end of the month.

All professional rugby league clubs will receive their final IMG score for 2025 with criteria based on five key pillars: fandom, finance, stadium, performance, and community. And it’s Hull who will score the lowest in performance out of the current 11 topflight clubs, having endured 9th, 10th, and 11th place finishes in Super League over the last three years.

The final performance scores are now available following the Super League Grand Final last Saturday night, with the performance pillar worth a total of four points. Bonus points are also given for the Super League Grand Final (0.75), Challenge Cup (0.25), Championship (0.25), League 1 (0.1), and 1895 Cup (0.1) winners in 2024.

The four points go some way to the 15 required for Grade A status, with seven clubs, Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Warrington Wolves, Catalans Dragons, Hull KR, and Hull FC, awarded such status on a provisional basis last year. That guarantees exemption from relegation, with the Super League competition then made up of the highest performing Grade B clubs.

The performance totals are based on league position for the bottom six Super League clubs. However, how a club performs in the play-offs determines where clubs rank in the top six. Obviously, the Grand Final winners come first, then the runners-up second. The highest-performing semi-final loser sits third, with the other fourth. The fifth and sixth-placed sides are determined by the highest-ranked losers from the first-round elimination ties.

Hull, meanwhile, scored just 2.8 points from the four performance points available. Worse still, that could threaten their Grade A status, with the Black and Whites achieving their provisional grading by the skin of the teeth with 15.05 points. They could drop to Grade B—albeit they will likely be one of the highest B clubs, if not the highest, so their Super League status won't be threatened.

On the contrary, Wigan Warriors sit in 1st position on the performance chart with the maximum four points. They will also get one bonus point for their Super League and Challenge Cup wins this season and could be the highest overall ranked club.

St Helens sit in second place, with their 2022 success and semi-final spot from 2023 helping their cause, whereas Hull KR's recent semi-final and Grand Final appearances have boosted their total.

Of course, there could be further swings at the end of the next year in the performance department. For instance, if Leigh achieve a third consecutive play-off finish, then their score will rise significantly, given their 13th place finish after winning the Championship in 2022. And on the flipside, Huddersfield will go down if they suffer another bottom four finish, with their respectable finish of 5th in 2022 keeping them in midtable.

Should Wakefield win the Championship Grand Final on Saturday, they will be the 12th best performing club after 11th, 12th and 13th place finishes over the last three years.

Here are the full positions and figures in full based on the last three years of Super League.

1st: Wigan Warriors, 4.0000 points
2022: 3rd | 2023: 1st | 2024: 1st

2nd: St Helens, 3.8857 points
2022: 1st | 2023: 3rd | 2024: 6th

3rd: Hull KR, 3.7714 points
2022: 8th | 2023: 4th | 2024: 2nd

4th: Catalans Dragons, 3.6571 points
2022: 4th | 2023: 2nd | 2024: 7th

5th: Salford Red Devils, 3.5429 points
2022: 6th| 2023: 7th | 2024: 5th

6th: Leeds Rhinos, 3.4286 points
2022: 2nd | 2023: 8th | 2024: 8th

7th: Warrington Wolves, 3.3143 points
2022: 11th | 2023: 6th | 2024: 3rd

8th: Leigh Leopards, 3.2000 points
2022: 13th | 2023: 5th | 2024: 4th

9th: Huddersfield Giants, 3.0857 points
2022: 5th | 2023: 9th | 2024: 9th

10th: Castleford Tigers, 2.9714 points
2022: 7th | 2023: 11th | 2024: 10th

11th: Hull FC, 2.8571
2022: 9th | 2023: 10th | 2024: 11th

https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... g-30148093

Well at least there is some logic in that particular criteria but the one that gets me is the stadium utilisation one.

As Wigan have a large capacity ground they will probably end up scoring less than clubs like Leigh and Warrington despite having higher average crowds and a couple of 20k+ gates. Makes no sense to me.

Nor anyone else. Ludicrous criteria.

DaveO wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 3:17 pm Well at least there is some logic in that particular criteria but the one that gets me is the stadium utilisation one.

As Wigan have a large capacity ground they will probably end up scoring less than clubs like Leigh and Warrington despite having higher average crowds and a couple of 20k+ gates. Makes no sense to me.

The sense I make of it is that it doesn't help the atmosphere when your stadium is at 60% capacity for most games compared to high 90s%. Plus it doesn't look great on tv when you see so many empty seats. I do agree their should still be a logic behind the actual numbers. I haven't looked into it, but I feel like our numbers this season has been better than usual. I don't recall having less than around 15k at a game

Blackpool_Pie wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 5:26 pm The sense I make of it is that it doesn't help the atmosphere when your stadium is at 60% capacity for most games compared to high 90s%. Plus it doesn't look great on tv when you see so many empty seats. I do agree their should still be a logic behind the actual numbers. I haven't looked into it, but I feel like our numbers this season has been better than usual. I don't recall having less than around 15k at a game

Just had a peek at Wikipedia for this season and our average attendance was 14,910. Looking at each of the home games, half had attendances less than 15k - with a high of 20,152 vs Saints in round, and a low of 11,660 vs Hudds in round 20.

One thing that could be improved is the clubs should be incentivised to have the majority of fans sitting on the opposite side to the cameras. Three sides of the stadium can be pretty full, but the camera's are filming an almost empty stand on the far side, it looks like there's no atmosphere and won't draw in the viewers.

If needs be, change the position of the camera gantry!

Mike wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2024 8:44 pm One thing that could be improved is the clubs should be incentivised to have the majority of fans sitting on the opposite side to the cameras. Three sides of the stadium can be pretty full, but the camera's are filming an almost empty stand on the far side, it looks like there's no atmosphere and won't draw in the viewers.

If needs be, change the position of the camera gantry!

The West stand is now the same price (at least single match tickets) as the East, meaning more people are in the West than before, yet the cameras all face the East stand

It's still a rubbish criterion; doesn't the Brick look fuller than most other grounds on TV anyway?

moto748 wrote: ↑Wed Oct 16, 2024 1:59 am It's still a rubbish criterion; doesn't the Brick look fuller than most other grounds on TV anyway?

Often that easy stand looks quite empty, which isn't a good look for the sport.

Have IMG come out and explained that the stadium dullness criteria is related to things looking good on tv?

I don’t really buy this argument and a few posters above have said the same.

Half full stadiums don’t look good to who? Rugby league fans watching tv?