Martyn Sadler

Every year in League Express we look back at the season just gone and pick out the 50 most significant and memorable moments we’ll all remember, whether they are triumphs or tragedies, great matches or momentous events. They may be things that happened on the field, or they may be things that happened off it. For example, in 2022 we listed the decision to award the intended 2025 World Cup to France as the most significant moment of the year. In 2023 the decision of France to withdraw from holding the competition will no doubt feature highly on this year's list. For the purposes of this feature, we use the following definitions: “Significant: important, large, or great, especially in leading to a different result or to an important change.” “Memorable: worth remembering or easily remembered, especially because of being special or unusual.” If you have a top five of such moments, I would be glad to read it.

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In the long term yes, but in the short term no. And that begs the question of what might happen if some of the information that IMG relied on for the 'Finance' score was not accurate and secured a Super League place for one club at another club's expense. As I've said earlier, I'm broadly in support of a system that excludes conventional promotion and relegation, but the problem is that this system has a lot of potential holes in it, the impact of which could be enormous, when you consider the difference in funding between Super League and the Championship. Without some modification of the rules, the RFL is asking for trouble. It's as though Tony Sutton is leading the sporting equivalent of the Charge of the Light Brigade.

I actually meant teams 12 and 13 on the gradings table.

I've asked the question of the RFL, so hopefully they will respond. The metrics are quantifiable but the point is how accurate they are. For example, how reliable is financial information from those clubs that don't have audited accounts?

What happens if teams 12 and 13 end up with precisely the same grading score? What would you suggest for a tie breaker? Given how close the scores are, no one can say that it couldn't happen. The difference between the two positions would be about £1 million per year. Lawyers will be licking their lips.

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Thanks. Your point about yo-yo clubs has been my argument for many years. And I agree with your second paragraph. But we have to secure a route to that nirvana that doesn't do untold damage on the way.

What I'm saying is that P & R should remain until we have 12 Grade A clubs. The London situation this season was an unexpected one-off, but it has to be managed. In the same way, if the Broncos finished in the play-off positions next season, it would be absurd to relegate them at that point, rather than relegating the lowest ranking Grade B side.

I agree completely with the criteria and process, although as i've said on here several times, I would like to see more transparency. I'm the one who has been saying for as long as I can remember that conventional P & R doesn't work in Rugby League. And when we get to the 2025 season and beyond, I'm sure the new system will work well. But if we implement it without modification for next season, the grading system will lose credibility. You only have to read through this thread to see how many people don't like it.

I'm sure you're right, which is why we can treat next season as a one-off to preserve the integrity of the game.

I'm not misunderstanding anything. The problem is that there is a tension between the long term aims of this process and the short term outcome, which could derail the whole thing if not dealt with properly. Everyone hopes that ultimately there will be twelve Grade A clubs. I would be surprised if there weren't at least nine by the end of next season. But until there are twelve, the game would be foolish to close the door to ambitious other clubs, regardless of whether they are a couple of decimal points behind some other clubs below them in the league table. In that connection, one point worth making is that we all have faith that the scores have been correctly calculated. But I was talking to one club owner yesterday whose score was adjusted by 0.5 of a point at the last minute because of a miscalculation, allegedly by IMG. If that club were in 12th or 13th position in the overall ranking, any calculation error could have enormous financial consequences.

I'm sure he'll be too intelligent to do that.

It has to be confirmed by the RFL directors.

Changing the whole idea? No, only part of it, to avoid the game being brought into disrepute.

I'm not sure what you mean by a 'hybrid system'. The hybrid system is what we are being presented with by IMG.

Tony Sutton needs to realise that he is the CEO of the RFL and make a decision. If next season is a disaster, it will be him who carries the can.

Bumps are not inevitable when they can be so easily avoided. London may be 24th on "the criteria", but they are 12th where it really counts, which is on the field.

If you want one club to be a passenger in Super League from the opening game next season, then it isn't needed. The obvious thing for the Broncos to do now is to continue with a part-time squad and accept the inevitable. I think that would be a PR disaster for the game, particularly in London. We will look ridiculous.

IMG are certainly not clowns - they have performed an important service with the grading system they have introduced. But ultimately it isn't IMG who manages the game - it's the RFL and nowadays RL Commercial Ltd. As with any consultancy project, you have to decide whether to adopt all the recommendations or modify some of them. The clear modification that needs to be made is that Grade B clubs should be able to be relegated or promoted from or into Super League regardless of their ranking among the Grade B clubs. That means that, as things stand, the Broncos would be able to strive to beat the Giants, Tigers, Red Devils or Leopards in avoiding that relegation spot. The same thing applies with promotion. If a Grade B team wins the Championship Grand Final, it should be promoted regardless unless there are 12 Grade A clubs. My other concern with the grading system is that in my view each club should have been required to achieve a certain minimum standard for each of the headings if it is to be regarded as a Grade A club. If a club scores top marks on fandom and performance, but, for example, could only manage one point out of 4.5 on finance, then I don't think it should be granted Grade A status, even if its points gained from other sources suggest that it should be. That's why I think we should have been given the full picture, not just the aggregate score, for each club, which can obscure as much as enlighten.

Interesting suggestion that may be worth developing.

Andy Mazey @andy_mazey Martyn Sadler talking complete and utter sense Quote League Express @leagueexpress · 20h Creating a viable competition structure for clubs outside Super League. League Express editor Martyn Sadler puts forward his proposals to bring the Championship and League 1 clubs together. https://totalrl.com/combining-the-championship-and-league-1-and-creating-a-viable-fixture-list/

You obviously haven't read either proposal.