What's the thinking here... Toulouse up London down or Cas up London down or Cas up Toulouse up and Bradford up to make the 14?

It won’t be 14 until there are a lot more A grades.

London will go down and it looks like Toulouse are well placed to come up. Wakefield, Leigh, Cas and Bradford look to be in contention for 2 spots. Bradford feel like an outside shot to me, fwiw. So two from three, if that is the case and assuming no big surprises in anybody’s circumstances.

Definitely Wakefield for London, the last spot is between Cas and Toulouse I think, Cas seem to be making as many improvements as they can to their ground to try meet the IMG criteria like installing seating down the side, but I wonder if it'll be enough...I think when Toulouse Cas and maybe Bradford announce their signings for 2025 onwards, you'll get a good idea of whether they think they'll be in SL or not. Personally I'd like Toulouse in, the away day there was great in n2022, not sure how much further Cas can grow as a club either...but understand lots of people want them in SL...tough one.

Mild Rover is right in saying that it's not going to be a 14 team league as they have confirmed they are sticking with 12 for now. Looks like they want 12 Grade A teams before considering expanding.

rlhttps://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/img-grading-dates-revealed-as-super-league-expansion-addressed-for-2025rl

Don't forget SL own Bradfords lease, so may be in their interest for them to be in SL

Someone who is quite well connected in the SL scene told me around the time the initial IMG ratings were released that they will do everything possible to get Toulouse into SL. For the improvements they have made I would be nervous if I were a Cas fan.

still baffles me how IMG came to the conclusion clubs get nothing regards bringing players through their system, yet get a few dodgy burger vans and you get points!

After what happened with licensing last time, I definitely can’t dismiss the premise underlying that reminder!

It should though be much more difficult to ‘interpret’ or ‘adjust’ the results under this system. In theory.

Tbf, it killed the old system last time… the shocking thing was that they didn’t seem to realise it inevitably would. And some things have changed since then in the wider sporting consciousness since then, but that’s a tangent.

not much reward for teams like Londonn is there? bring their own through the system then watch them get picked off one by one by the northern clubs, i will include the likes of Saints and Wigan in that too!

London will continue to struggle with IMG gradings as long as their catchment area only counts as the borough their stadium is in, rather than the whole of London. Id like to see York in super league some day too, but realise they're a bit of a way off currently.

I wonder if Hudds will ever be at risk of super league status under IMG, thier crowds are consistently low and if/when Ken Davy stops backing them, can they continue to survive as a top flight club?

Toulouse are the only championship club with a TV deal, be interesting to see if that gives them any weighting for the scores later in the year

Also, people moan about IMGs perceived lack of effort, a bit of their work on show here

rlhttps://x.com/catalanmedia/status/1798995445542420825?t

I completely agree. It’s a badly broken system, in a number of ways. I just don’t think it’s something for IMG to fix. And the RL community loves it despite its flaws.

Derek's outburst is purely down to him genuinly worrying about being relegated himself in my opinion.
Based on the provisional gradings posted previously Leigh are in 12th and face a real threat of being relegated. I don't think they will, as they will gain a few points based on league position, but I haven't seen much of what they're doing off-field to help boost their points. It may be a lot, it may be close to nothing, I have no idea. Wakey's grading will likely improve now their new stand is open and with the signings they've made must be confident they will secure a SL place, so I wouldn't be suprised to see them stay above Leigh.
I've seen Cas have done a few easy wins with things such as seating and a big screen. Combined with new investment will probably be a boost to their financial grading. Wakefield also seem to be improving
Derek probably wants London to finish 11th because they're down anyway, then trying to (ridiculously) guilt Hull into taking voluntary relegation after finishing bottom (which is laughable he even made that suggestion) so that it leaves 2 spaces in SL and gives Leigh a better chance of staying there.

I went through a period of liking Beaumont last year, he really grew on me, now he's going back to his attention seeking rants I'm starting to look forward to the prospect of Leigh back in the championship.

Anyway, look forward to Cokey ripping my post apart.

https://x.com/TheGameCaller/status/1805 ... gt0Dw&s=19 Hope this isn't true, but, if it's linked with the stories last week about some clubs wanting to kick Catalan out of SL, it shows the small mindedness of many club owners. We can't chop and change yet again, need to give the IMG structure time to bed in. Without IMG, would every game have been on TV? would Cas have actually made improvements to their ground? Would we have had time to do a proper rebuild? Or would we just be having a mad panic signing whichever journeyman Aussie we could? In my opinion, the game can't grow much more in northern in England, we need to stick with IMG and let them grow the game and generate new commercial opportunities. Clubs were struggling pre IMG, hence why they were brought in, what do these chairmen think will happen if we scrap IMGs plans? Catalan get kicked out, Bradford or Widnes get promoted and bring a few hundred more away fans to game than Catalan do and that'll solve the club's financial problems? No, if we get rid of IMG, the game will become more insular and continue to fade into insignificance

https://x.com/TheGameCaller/status/1805 ... gt0Dw&s=19 Hope this isn't true, but, if it's linked with the stories last week about some clubs wanting to kick Catalan out of SL, it shows the small mindedness of many club owners. We can't chop and change yet again, need to give the IMG structure time to bed in. Without IMG, would every game have been on TV? would Cas have actually made improvements to their ground? Would we have had time to do a proper rebuild? Or would we just be having a mad panic signing whichever journeyman Aussie we could? In my opinion, the game can't grow much more in northern in England, we need to stick with IMG and let them grow the game and generate new commercial opportunities. Clubs were struggling pre IMG, hence why they were brought in, what do these chairmen think will happen if we scrap IMGs plans? Catalan get kicked out, Bradford or Widnes get promoted and bring a few hundred more away fans to game than Catalan do and that'll solve the club's financial problems? No, if we get rid of IMG, the game will become more insular and continue to fade into insignificance