IMG Grading System (Many Merged Threads)

[Damien]

10 minutes ago, LeytherRob said:

You didn't say he had a hissy fit a few months after relegation though, did you?

You said he had a hissy fit after one relegation and even went to the trouble to specify it was 'because of it'. you even doubled down and said, 'If you don't think relegation had anything to do with it then that's up to you'. People rightly corrected you that it was the following season and rather than just say 'yeah fair enough but the point stands' you are the one diving down the rabbit hole of semantics arguments saying the a few months means 10, even though you said neither. So, if anyone is being precious here, it is you. 

Talk about tedious. Do you Leigh fans work on a rota or do you get alerted every time St Derek is mentioned?

Every time one of you jumps into a discussion you just repeat what has already been said and ignore what has been said in reply. No wonder this thread is on 366 pages.

Again this is irrelevant to the point and I couldn't care less about you trying to argue semantics. I'll leave it at that because the original discussion wasn't even important anyway, never mind this.

[LeytherRob]

6 minutes ago, Damien said:

Talk about tedious. Do you Leigh fans work on a rota or do you get alerted every time St Derek is mentioned?

Every time one of you jumps into a discussion you just repeat what has already been said and ignore what has been said in reply. No wonder this thread is on 366 pages.

Again this is irrelevant to the point and I couldn't care less about you trying to argue semantics. I'll leave it at that because the original discussion wasn't even important anyway, never mind this.

Look, you made a point, it was demonstrably false, and people pointed it out. If that offends you so that you have to move into ad hominem comments about Leigh fans, then that's up to you but don't complain about tedium or the length of the thread when you are the one now goading people because they had the audacity to correct you.

[phiggins]

1 hour ago, Damien said:

Talk about tedious. Do you Leigh fans work on a rota or do you get alerted every time St Derek is mentioned?

Every time one of you jumps into a discussion you just repeat what has already been said and ignore what has been said in reply. No wonder this thread is on 366 pages.

Again this is irrelevant to the point and I couldn't care less about you trying to argue semantics. I'll leave it at that because the original discussion wasn't even important anyway, never mind this.

But to bring the conversation to something vaguely relevant to this thread. If Toulouse are to be in SL in 2026, they won't have confirmation of it until October next year. At what point do you think they should start to recruit? Going early carries a risk, as you could be commtting money you might not receive, and waiting has a risk of an uncompetitive side, which can impact on crowds and revenue. Apologies if you've already answered this elsewhere, but I think another 2 threads got merged into this since I last looked! 

[phiggins]

4 hours ago, DI Keith Fowler said:

And teams have been relegated with all the job losses and financial ruin that go along with that because in the 79th minute of a game some bozo dropped an inflated synthetic ball.

There's fine margins both systems, but at least measures like, your press gantry needs to be a certain length are known things you can try to remedy rather than twists of fate. In any case you wouldn't be relegated because of this, but because of the combined impact of all the points you lost. 

I think the last point is a separate issue tbh, we can't even get a full sized pitch at our own Grand Final. 

Funnily enough, there isn't even a mention of being able to accomodate a full size pitch in the stadium criteria.

Do you agree that the Doncaster stadium is not fit for Super League?

[The Phantom Horseman]

Some interesting tweets detailing the breakdown of Widnes scores (and realting to other teams) from journalist/Widnes fan @jdgsport this evening, think he's at a fans' forum or similar.

Of particular note the suggestion that every single team acheived the maximum score for website visits after it was set at just 60k.

[Chrispmartha]

15 minutes ago, phiggins said:

Funnily enough, there isn't even a mention of being able to accomodate a full size pitch in the stadium criteria.

Do you agree that the Doncaster stadium is not fit for Super League?

Doncasters stadium is fit for Superleague they haven’t been denied aa place because of it

[Archie Gordon]

2 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

...

Of particular note the suggestion that every single team acheived the maximum score for website visits after it was set at just 60k.

I did suspect that.

I also suspect that every club got 0.75 points for TV since viewers got spread over 6 games.

One of the first rules of measurement is to differentiate ...

[phiggins]

2 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Doncasters stadium is fit for Superleague they haven’t been denied aa place because of it

"In order to score 1.5 the club’s stadium facilities must reach Super League minimum standards. If these standards are not met the club will score 0.5."

https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/docs/Grading Handbook (Final Version).pdf

They may not have been denied a place because of it. But they were denied a point because the scoring deems it not to reach Super League minimum standards?

[wilsontown]

Given that we play the SL Grand Final at Old Trafford it's hard to insist that everyone has a full-length pitch. Although we probably should.

[Damien]

11 minutes ago, phiggins said:

But to bring the conversation to something vaguely relevant to this thread. If Toulouse are to be in SL in 2026, they won't have confirmation of it until October next year. At what point do you think they should start to recruit? Going early carries a risk, as you could be commtting money you might not receive, and waiting has a risk of an uncompetitive side, which can impact on crowds and revenue. Apologies if you've already answered this elsewhere, but I think another 2 threads got merged into this since I last looked! 

Would it be for 2026?

[phiggins]

1 minute ago, Damien said:

Would it be for 2026?

Yes, so in October 2025, they get confirmation of promotion to play SL in 2026. How much recruitment for 2026 should they have done already by then? 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Some interesting tweets detailing the breakdown of Widnes scores (and realting to other teams) from journalist/Widnes fan @jdgsport this evening, think he's at a fans' forum or similar.

Of particular note the suggestion that every single team acheived the maximum score for website visits after it was set at just 60k.

Hang on, I thought IMG were experts at this digital lark?

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Some interesting tweets detailing the breakdown of Widnes scores (and realting to other teams) from journalist/Widnes fan @jdgsport this evening, think he's at a fans' forum or similar.

Of particular note the suggestion that every single team acheived the maximum score for website visits after it was set at just 60k.

I went, it was quite interesting. 

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

20 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

I went, it was quite interesting. 

Very surprised at those turnover figures given Barrow's.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

15 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Very surprised at those turnover figures given Barrow's.

Can't remember what ours was and no idea what Barrow's was. If their's is higher guessing it's because they own their own stadium and thus generating more income from it.

[Damien]

2 hours ago, phiggins said:

Yes, so in October 2025, they get confirmation of promotion to play SL in 2026. How much recruitment for 2026 should they have done already by then? 

Fair enough, I had it in my head that it was different than that, and that clubs had more security, but it's sometimes hard to separate fact from fiction on this thread.

I think Toulouse should be aiming to strengthen and build a team to win the Championship, which would naturally help them for any SL promotion. They should be doing this by focussing on developing and improving their French players and expanding that player pool, which should provide both immediate and long term benefits. High quality imports could then be used to boost this squad should they be promoted to SL.

[Harry Stottle]

9 hours ago, Damien said:

Fair enough, I had it in my head that it was different than that, and that clubs had more security, but it's sometimes hard to separate fact from fiction on this thread.

I think Toulouse should be aiming to strengthen and build a team to win the Championship, which would naturally help them for any SL promotion. They should be doing this by focussing on developing and improving their French players and expanding that player pool, which should provide both immediate and long term benefits. High quality imports could then be used to boost this squad should they be promoted to SL.

Not a clue why they did not do that this year in respect of strengthening their squad even moreso considering that they were in 10th position in the indicative gradings, could it have been that they looked at Wakefield and how they were strengthening and thought we won't beat them let's wait till next season when the opposition for the title may not be as strong?

As most keep saying POTENTIALLY they could be one of the bigger clubs, but in this system potential does not get criteria points, they have to get some actualities on that potential in lots of areas.

[dkw]

11 hours ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Very surprised at those turnover figures given Barrow's.

Im not, Barrow have had a massive push these past few years to build their income outside of game day, and have done it really well. Its a model my own club have tried to copy.

[Damien]

Maybe this was posted previously but interesting from Beaumont. It's funny how things change once you get an A grade and become part of the club. It wasn't too long ago he wanted a 14 team SL when Leigh were on the outer:

He said: “At the launch of the IMG partnership and the grading system it was stated that if 16 teams reach Grade A then that’s what Super League would become.

“But we all know that the game’s cake can’t divide into more than 12 currently and feed those at the table enough, despite there being an obvious appetite to do so to eliminate loop fixtures etc. This problem remains even under this structure should it continue which I don’t believe it should.

“I can already sense the minds ticking on the alterations to the thresholds, some to deal with discrepancies like the zero points for a big screen with pixels too large equalling that of no screen at all, and a method of measuring the reach of a club rather than that of its population, something in which it has no ability to change its performance.

“However, I also sense there will be movements in pillars to lower clubs scores and make it less likely to get more than 12 clubs with a Grade A score to protect the current position, at least until a better deal is done that can expand the competition, something that can be done by introducing Grade B clubs anyway.

“I appreciate the pressure the RFL and RL Commercial are in concerning this situation.”

And Beaumont offered his support for many clubs who were graded B by IMG – and insisted once again that the possible direction of travel for rugby league that would be best is a two-tier system with ten teams in each.

Beaumont said: “Many Grade B clubs bring so much value, as do other clubs, which is why I believe over time we need 2 x 10s to keep scores close and accommodate the depth of clubs with a Championship operating below it.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/leigh-leopards-owner-proposes-10-team-super-league-and-makes-bold-img-prediction

[Click]

Can't believe people are still bringing up Doncaster's stadium as if they have some kind of point.

Why are some people surprised that a 20 year old stadium may not be top class anymore.

[gingerjon]

9 minutes ago, Damien said:

Maybe this was posted previously but interesting from Beaumont. It's funny how things change once you get an A grade and become part of the club. It wasn't too long ago he wanted a 14 team SL when Leigh were on the outer:

He said: “At the launch of the IMG partnership and the grading system it was stated that if 16 teams reach Grade A then that’s what Super League would become.

“But we all know that the game’s cake can’t divide into more than 12 currently and feed those at the table enough, despite there being an obvious appetite to do so to eliminate loop fixtures etc. This problem remains even under this structure should it continue which I don’t believe it should.

“I can already sense the minds ticking on the alterations to the thresholds, some to deal with discrepancies like the zero points for a big screen with pixels too large equalling that of no screen at all, and a method of measuring the reach of a club rather than that of its population, something in which it has no ability to change its performance.

“However, I also sense there will be movements in pillars to lower clubs scores and make it less likely to get more than 12 clubs with a Grade A score to protect the current position, at least until a better deal is done that can expand the competition, something that can be done by introducing Grade B clubs anyway.

“I appreciate the pressure the RFL and RL Commercial are in concerning this situation.”

And Beaumont offered his support for many clubs who were graded B by IMG – and insisted once again that the possible direction of travel for rugby league that would be best is a two-tier system with ten teams in each.

Beaumont said: “Many Grade B clubs bring so much value, as do other clubs, which is why I believe over time we need 2 x 10s to keep scores close and accommodate the depth of clubs with a Championship operating below it.

https://www.loverugbyleague.com/post/leigh-leopards-owner-proposes-10-team-super-league-and-makes-bold-img-prediction

Worth stating as well, that 2x10's advocates are usually not envisaging anyone coming in to join the lucky 20.

[Harry Stottle]

3 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Worth stating as well, that 2x10's advocates are usually not envisaging anyone coming in to join the lucky 20.

2 x 10's is a terrible concept, it needs filing vertically before any traction is done.

[phiggins]

2 hours ago, Click said:

Can't believe people are still bringing up Doncaster's stadium as if they have some kind of point.

Why are some people surprised that a 20 year old stadium may not be top class anymore.

The grading handbook doesn’t give points for being top class. It gives an extra point for having the minimum standard required for Super League. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

17 hours ago, Archie Gordon said:

I did suspect that.

I also suspect that every club got 0.75 points for TV since viewers got spread over 6 games.

One of the first rules of measurement is to differentiate ...

Give the lad a break, there’s a new Call of Duty mod just come out. 

[Exiled Wiganer]

2 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

2 x 10's is a terrible concept, it needs filing vertically before any traction is done.

2 X 10 advocates - within which I would firmly place myself - are not a homogenous body. We are not the WDL.