We have started upgrading the stadium. The old East Stand has been completely knocked down and is being totally rebuilt. Other Stadium work to start once the East stand rebuild is completed next year.

That's good news, but 20 years late. It doesn't really matter cos IMG won't want teams like Wakey and Leigh. By the way, I was very pleased when you stayed up ahead of Toulouse.

Yet still you took the Sky money and spaffed it up against the wall for all those years and now you are starting to get worried. Wakey never used all the salary cap, so where did all the money go? Why did Bradford repeatedly go bust having received top dollar from the Super League? Castleford draw up new plans for a stadium every year and never do anything.

"Clubs in Super League and the Championship will be graded Category A or Category B. Category A clubs are guaranteed participation in the top tier, while Category B clubs will be re-assessed annually. If there are remaining spots in Super League, the highest-ranking B clubs will occupy the remaining slots in the top division. There has been no confirmation yet from IMG on how clubs are graded, and how many clubs would comprise a top tier."

It sounds like there will be two tables - one with win/lose/draw pts for and pts against - with a second for Category B. Leigh are B74 and Fev are B53. Lose 10 pts for asking inane questions about how great the Leigh fans have been for the hundredth time.
I wonder if there will deductions for having a slopey pitch or not having a full100 metres in length, maybe even deductions for plastic pitches.

cat a or cat b they sound like prisoners

All expected. We now know definitely that IMG were brought in by the top clubs. So much for the realignment between SL & The RFL. Monopolies (or quadropolies) Commission needs to kick this out!

20,000 fans only and one of those skewed questionnaires that find the results they want.! IMG are shoite!!

So we start to rebuilt the ground and you still have a go?
Can't do right for doing wrong eh?

Think this is ultimate protectionism. Clubs only relegated if they finish bottom but have a Cat B rating and only get promoted if they finish top with a Cat A rating. So none of the big clubs never in danger of relegation no matter how badly they perform!

Apologies for anything I might have said yesterday, but my initial thoughts of Franchise Rugby left me rather cold. Memories of Huddersfield being propped up by an unfair system, Widnes being promoted when, like now they have an average Championship side.

My thoughts are now turned to how to turn this to Leigh's advantage. 2 years ago Leigh produced a report highlighting the clubs strengths, and as a result were promoted into the vacant 12 slot (ignore the fact that they did not award the full central funding, that is a separate issue). The report suggested that Leigh would a high Category B, but with a few tweaks may be able to achieve the magical Category A.

The criteria was not actually announced but it fairly easy to see where this going. The following is a general list that is likely to be included:
1. Performance on the field - reaching finals of the Challenge Cup or Grand Final in a set timeframe. (This is still a fairly small number of clubs)
2. Stadium - this will favour the North West teams like St Helens, Wigan, Warrington, Leigh and Salford. Yorkshire teams with good stadia include Leeds, Huddersfield and Hull. Stadium criteria will be based on capacity, lighting and facilities and pitch quality.
3. Attendance - This will favour the Super League clubs with considerably more travelling supporters boosting the average gates.
4. Community Links - Not living in Leigh I am unaware of the clubs activities but the report 2 years ago showed a high level of involvement in schools and local charities.
5. Academies and Youth setup - Derek has previous applied for one of the limited number of licences and been refused. This will need to change and all clubs will need to run youth sections.
6. Disability Rugby - Leigh are running some of the categories of disability and will probably step-up this involvement.
7. Women's Rugby - To the best of my knowledge Leigh are not currently active in this category.
8. Social Media - I might have mentioned this before, but Leigh's efforts in this area leave a lot to be desired.

Derek has stated that his goal is to make Leigh a permanent Super League club. To do this he will need to put all the correct teams in place, improve Social media and increase the attendances at the LSV. Boosting attendances is easier said than done and the 2022 has seen a superb Leigh side with only just a little over 3000 spectators. I believe that Super League figures at the LSV will be more like 6000 to 8000, which is probably better than several current Super League teams.

Category A teams
St Helens
Wigan
Warrington
Leeds
Catalans
Hull

High Category B
Salford
Huddersfield
Hull KR
Leigh

Mid Category B
Castleford
Wakefield
Toulouse

Low Category B
London
Widnes
Featherstone
York
Newcastle

Category C
Everybody else

The criteria was not actually announced.

Have you been to Odsal?

For my sins I live amongst the Wire folk.

Yes Atomic well spotted. Do you think the criteria is going to be based on the number of boiled eggs that the clubs prop forwards can eat in one sitting?

The main goal will be to get Stadia up to a good standard, average crowds above 10,000 and success in the Grand Final and Challenge Cup. The rest is all pie filling.

So pretty much the same criteria as previous, not convinced we’d be top 12 to be honest- not getting relegated is crucial, those at the top table tend to stay there, and not beyond them to seriously consider the likes of Newcastle and London