The IMG Gradings Thread - Post all your IMG Gradings related questions or comments here

[phiggins]

2 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

The CC win will count towards their 3 year performance grade. 

 

I don't think it does. It counts this year, but the bonus points only applied to trophies won in the current year. So the 0.25 points (i think) that would've been earned in 2022 for winning the Championship and 1895 cup won't be part of the score Leigh have been given this year.

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, GeordieSaint said:

To be honest, we expect the RFL to balls things up - hence the task to IMG. But for a club, who quite frankly probably knew they could be at risk, that’s truly appalling and a sad inditement of their professionalism. 

Genuinely I cannot believe that Cas can compete in SL given what "facilities" they have. They do an awful lot with a little, but they really do need to do more off field then entire operation feels like its on a shoestring.

[MattSantos]

1 minute ago, phiggins said:

Winning a major trophy during the period should mean something though.

It means 0.25 points. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

4 minutes ago, MattSantos said:

The CC win will count towards their 3 year performance grade. 

 

Just now, phiggins said:

I don't think it does. It counts this year, but the bonus points only applied to trophies won in the current year. So the 0.25 points (i think) that would've been earned in 2022 for winning the Championship and 1895 cup won't be part of the score Leigh have been given this year.

From the IMG Grading Handbook:

Performance bonuses are only awarded for the current season.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Les Tonks Sidestep

[Tommygilf]

3 minutes ago, Leonard said:

Not unless you improve your off the field performance for 3 years.

I've been working hard!!

[Gooleboy]

Maybe IMG expect fans will turn out in big numbers to watch some LED lights being switched on or some new bogs being built.

[Guest]

 

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Winning a major trophy during the period should mean something though. I'd say it's at least of equal relevance to the crowds a club was getting three years ago. Discounting some factors during the three year period but not others doesn't seem right to me.

On the digital metrics, yes, they can broaden the social media activities, but ultimately, the metrics IMG are using are numbers without context. Visits to the website is meaningless without the added context of size of audience you are targeting, what do you want them to do (conversion for ticket / merchandise sales? Time spent on page to consume content? Bounce rate?) Various metrics that need to be pulled together along with initial objectives to determine how effective your activities are. Similarly, social media engagement is worthless without some sort of sentiment analysis. The metrics IMG are using are primitive at best.

I can see that argument, I would think though that many would complain that goes against the spirit of the on field results being used at all. It has a bit of Bradford being 1 of 4 Super League winners about it for example.

I agree that these seem primitive, but I would also hope that with extended implementation they are refined and honed.

[Tommygilf]

Just now, Leonard said:

 

So he's not packing in then and is, as all clubs should be, actively looking at ways to secure and A Grade.

[Guest]

https://londonbroncosrl.com/2023/10/25/img-indicative-club-gradings-announced/

London Broncos graded ‘Category B’

Following an extensive period of review and consultation by Rugby League and IMG the new grading categories have today been revealed. It has been confirmed that London Broncos have been graded as a “Category B” club.

Under the new grading criteria, which comes into effect from 2025, any team that has achieved Grade A status would be guaranteed one of the 12 places in Super League. The highest-performing Grade B teams would be in Super League should there not be 12 Grade A clubs.

All clubs are scored out of 20 and a score of 15 or more is required for Category A status, with 7.5 points or more achieving Category B status. London Broncos received a score of 8.07.

Speaking on the results of the review, London Broncos Chairman David Hughes said;

“Whilst accepting the score given, we will now look to work together as a club to improve on this score with the long-term ambition of achieving an A grade.

“Following the magnificent success of securing promotion from the Championship last season the club now looks to build on the strong foundations we have built in Wimbledon and last year’s achievements on the pitch, as we look to establish London Broncos as a Super League club now and in years to come.”

“The vast majority of scores in each category are based on an average over a three-year period so we need to make improvements year-on-year in order to improve our grading score in the longer term.”

[Guest]

Just now, Tommygilf said:

So he's not packing in then and is, as all clubs should be, actively looking at ways to secure and A Grade.

I suppose the flip side is that you can argue there is a pathway.

i just don't see how being in the championship for a protracted period will help with areas like crowds. For example, Leigh have shown that promotion is often the means to increase crowds.

And i see the attractions of London making that a specific issue.

[Gav Wilson]

1 minute ago, Leonard said:

 

Good on him. He now knows exactly whats required to improve all aspects of his club, and will try and work hard to achieve that. The system is working as intended. Respect!

[Tommygilf]

5 minutes ago, Agbrigg said:

Tommy, my club comes out of this OK and with the recent takeover should have far more improvement in this crazy system. But I can see how many other clubs feel hard done by and quite frankly question the point of continuing.

Mate I really think that is an over reaction.

If you're club is questioning the point of continuing because the obvious business realities have been pointed out then they have been living in a delusion anyway.

Super League is the only vehicle that brings in serious money and visibility to the sport. It cannot be left to random chance how that is used as a business.

[MattSantos]

Just now, phiggins said:

I don't think it does. It counts this year, but the bonus points only applied to trophies won in the current year. So the 0.25 points (i think) that would've been earned in 2022 for winning the Championship and 1895 cup won't be part of the score Leigh have been given this year.

OK.

You finish 6th, 7th and 10th in the last 3 years.

Points - 3.444, 3.333 and 3

3 Year Average: 3.259

If you win the CC in the last year, the average would be: 3.342

Are you saying that if you win the CC in the 1st year, that's somehow not counted? I wouldn't know how you would work out the average if it isn't.

 

[Gav Wilson]

24 minutes ago, Fevrover said:

Ask Gav Wilson of York he seems to know everything. 

Why am I catching strays here?! 

[GeordieSaint]

2 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

Good on him. He now knows exactly whats required to improve all aspects of his club, and will try and work hard to achieve that. The system is working as intended. Respect!

Yep - no dummy spitting there. Well done. Serious work to do there though; much of it his fault. 

[Barley Mow]

10 minutes ago, THE RED ROOSTER said:

Amid the sound and fury on here, I would point out these are provisional gradings and not the final outcome and they do represent a challenge to clubs to improve.

It's also fair to say that unlike the previous incarnation of licensing this is more weighted towards traditional clubs and appears to ensure the game will remain in the M62.

I did not think London Broncos would fare well in the gradings, but I am surprised at 24th and finishing below Newcastle, who as it stands are not in the league next year.

Gutterfax has already appeared on this thread with his anaysis of London Broncos and it's current owner and there is not much else to add save this;

If London is as strategically important as IMG tell us it is, and not just as a fig leaf to cover the nakedness of a sport confined to the M62, then IMG efforts need to be focused on finding the club a new owner be it a bloodnut exiled Northerner or an Aussie / Kiwi wiuth a love of league to fund the club and take the game forward enabling it to finally leave its self-imposed confines of the M62

And it's always better to leave and expand than remain and stagnate..

I don't think it actually is a weighting towards 'traditional clubs' I think it is a weighting towards Super League clubs (or rather clubs that have been in SL over the three year assessment period).

It just happens that 11 of the 13 who spent time in SL in that period are M62 based.

There was a time when London would have been amongst those benefitting from this weighting (and will get at least some advantage next year).

Edited October 25, 2023 by Barley Mow

[MattSantos]

1 minute ago, MattSantos said:

OK.

You finish 6th, 7th and 10th in the last 3 years.

Points - 3.444, 3.333 and 3

3 Year Average: 3.259

If you win the CC in the last year, the average would be: 3.342

Are you saying that if you win the CC in the 1st year, that's somehow not counted? I wouldn't know how you would work out the average if it isn't.

 

Or... In the last example, the average just stays at 3.259 as the CC win now is irrelevant?

This would be absolutely terrible.

[Hull Kingston Bronco]

I don't know about anyone else, but the key thing I took from today's information was that this is the 4th major league table in a row where Hull KR have finished above Hull FC 

...and yet all their fans do is bang on about how they're a big club, and we're a bunch of povs up the road. It's really quite delicious. 

Was there anything else interesting in today's grading news? Must have missed it 

[Fevrover]

2 minutes ago, Gav Wilson said:

Why am I catching strays here?! 

Gav yer well up on  rugby that's all lol.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Fevrover

[Chrispmartha]

5 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

So he's not packing in then and is, as all clubs should be, actively looking at ways to secure and A Grade.

Great response from him and that's exactly how clubs should respond and I hope they achieve what they want to.

 

[GeordieSaint]

Wakefield or Castleford for the chop then come next year. Fair. We’ve said as much for a while now. 

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, Hull Kingston Bronco said:

I don't know about anyone else, but the key thing I took from today's information was that this is the 4th major league table in a row where Hull KR have finished above Hull FC 

...and yet all their fans do is bang on about how they're a big club, and we're a bunch of povs up the road. It's really quite delicious. 

Was there anything else interesting in today's grading news? Must have missed it 

Cornwall above Crusaders.

Edited October 25, 2023 by Leonard

[MattSantos]

Still nowt on SSN

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, Leonard said:

I suppose the flip side is that you can argue there is a pathway.

i just don't see how being in the championship for a protracted period will help with areas like crowds. For example, Leigh have shown that promotion is often the means to increase crowds.

And i see the attractions of London making that a specific issue.

With all due respect, 2nd tier (semi pro) ice hockey side Leeds Knights have over a third of London's following on Twitter and average similar attendances. This is with a fraction of the history, a relatively foreign sport, and being in a smaller city playing in a franchised second tier league.

London Broncos need to be built into a Super League club from the backroom forwards. Being in the second tier isn't a hinderage on its own.