IF Bradford Bulls would have been scored by IMG in just five weeks’ time, their score will have risen from 12.15 to 13.15, according to chief executive Jason Hirst.
The Bulls scored just 0.13 points more in the actual IMG grading scores than they did in the provisional scores given to all 35 professional clubs last year.
Though Bradford’s figure rose from 12.02 to 12.15, their positions in the rankings fell from 14th to 16th with York Knights and London Broncos overtaking the West Yorkshire club.
However, Hirst is “relaxed” about the results and hinted at a longer-term ambition.
“I’m relaxed and calm about it,” Hirst told the Telegraph and Argus. “Our score has gone up, when there are at least 13 teams in the top three divisions who’ve gone down.
“Why am I relaxed about it? Because we were never going to score enough to get into a 12-team Super League in 2025.
“It’s always been about the long-term for us – with next year being a critical one in terms of on-field, off-field and IMG for how we rank before the 2026 season.
“I also know for a fact that if we were to be scored again in five weeks’ time, we’d be scored an additional point to move up to 13.15, which would immediately move us from 16th to 14th.
“The reason I say that is because, for anyone who comes to Odsal regularly, they will have seen that we are building a new facility behind the main stand, which is a directors’ box with seating on the halfway line.
“People will rightly say other clubs have made big improvements. And while I take my hat off to them, they’ve done the lot in a short space of time.
“We believe we’ve got longer, another full season now where we can make even more improvements than other clubs have done this year.”
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