IMG Grading System (Many Merged Threads)

[sheddingswasus]

4 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

IMG is dead!

Long live IMG!

I wonder which twelve clubs will receive the highest grades to decide who plays in SL26.

This time of year is so exciting as we wait for the spreadsheets. Way better than watching rugby matches.

I'm going to guess just one change. Salford out, Toulouse in. Same as last season. The bottom club relegated and the Champions promoted. It'd be quite the coincidence.

Except I don’t think Toulouse will be the champions.

There are four teams in contention and all to play for. York have had a decent injury free run but injuries are starting to happen. Bradford and Oldham have both had horrendous injury problems but are starting to get their best team together (although Oldham still have 5 first choice players injured- 4 are season ended). Toulouse have shown that if any of their spines injured they are gunner able with little cover. All to play for. 

[marklaspalmas]

8 hours ago, sheddingswasus said:

Except I don’t think Toulouse will be the champions.

There are four teams in contention and all to play for. York have had a decent injury free run but injuries are starting to happen. Bradford and Oldham have both had horrendous injury problems but are starting to get their best team together (although Oldham still have 5 first choice players injured- 4 are season ended). Toulouse have shown that if any of their spines injured they are gunner able with little cover. All to play for. 

Definitely not disagreeing with any of that. It's an extremely open competition which has been great to follow all season long.

My tip is Toulouse and I may well be wrong.

If York (for eg) get the title, perhaps they could gerrymander the IMG scores for them to have the 12th best spreadsheet grading and make it all a bit less controversial?

What are the chances of Cas and Hudds getting the flick alongside Salford, and three of the Championship's big guns all grading higher?

So open and exciting!!

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said:

Definitely not disagreeing with any of that. It's an extremely open competition which has been great to follow all season long.

My tip is Toulouse and I may well be wrong.

If York (for eg) get the title, perhaps they could gerrymander the IMG scores for them to have the 12th best spreadsheet grading and make it all a bit less controversial?

What are the chances of Cas and Hudds getting the flick alongside Salford, and three of the Championship's big guns all grading higher?

So open and exciting!!

Zero, for all 3 and either/both of Cas and Hull.

[Harry Stottle]

9 hours ago, sheddingswasus said:

Except I don’t think Toulouse will be the champions.

There are four teams in contention and all to play for. York have had a decent injury free run but injuries are starting to happen. Bradford and Oldham have both had horrendous injury problems but are starting to get their best team together (although Oldham still have 5 first choice players injured- 4 are season ended). Toulouse have shown that if any of their spines injured they are gunner able with little cover. All to play for. 

Exciting times ahead for the Championship contenders, and I would love it 8f winning the GF was the route to promotion.

But with bated breath, are any of those teams you mention ready or equipped to take on life in SL, the last two promoted teams that have/are doing well in SL being Wakefield and Leigh each built squads whilst still in the Championship in preparation for promotion, eliminating the need for wholesale squad changes at the end of the season when most player's have already tied up with club's for the following season. Yes there will be no immediate threat of relegation the following season as I am aware we will still be under the spreadsheet method.

[The Phantom Horseman]

Am I right in thinking York only get 1 point for Catchment Area (the population seems generally to be listed at just over 200k, whereas the threshold for getting the maximum 1.5 points is 260k)?

If so we could easily have a situation where, say, York beat Bradford or Toulouse, both of whom will get 1.5 points for Catchment Area regardless of their home attendances in a thrilling Grand Final, earning 0.25 points for winning that trophy in addition to the 0.1 for winning the 1895 Cup, but are edged out by the defeated finalists because of the fairly arbitrary thresholds for Catchment Area points.

We haven't yet really had to face the reality of some of the grading system, but that could be about to change in the next few months.

Edited July 27 by The Phantom Horseman

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

1 hour ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Am I right in thinking York only get 1 point for Catchment Area (the population seems generally to be listed at just over 200k, whereas the threshold for getting the maximum 1.5 points is 260k)?

If so we could easily have a situation where, say, York beat Bradford or Toulouse, both of whom will get 1.5 points for Catchment Area regardless of their home attendances in a thrilling Grand Final, earning 0.25 points for winning that trophy in addition to the 0.1 for winning the 1895 Cup, but are edged out by the defeated finalists because of the fairly arbitrary thresholds for Catchment Area points.

We haven't yet really had to face the reality of some of the grading system, but that could be about to change in the next few months.

We have so far managed to relegate a club without a ball being kicked and a club who were skint were judged to be one of the 12 best, not to mention the likes of Odsal or Wheldon Rd rating higher than the Kingmoat or DCBL. A club missing out on Catchment would be the icing on the cake.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

31 minutes ago, Jill Halfpenny fan said:

We have so far managed to relegate a club without a ball being kicked and a club who were skint were judged to be one of the 12 best, not to mention the likes of Odsal or Wheldon Rd rating higher than the Kingmoat or DCBL. A club missing out on Catchment would be the icing on the cake.

Take out catchment and Cas are apparently 'better' than Catalans....

[Pen-Y-Bont Crusader]

Don’t get me started on catchment and Broncos….

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

10 minutes ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Take out catchment and Cas are apparently 'better' than Catalans....

And Leigh.

[Expatknight]

It’s all ifs and maybes at the moment and probably should the ‘wrong’ club be in a position to challenge the status quo the rules will be changed so it doesn’t happen. How can any team plan their future with so much uncertainty , unless, of course, the people in the know already know who is going to be where next season. It really is a joke. It’s a bit like that spot the ball competition, stick a pin in and hope for the best, but always bearing in mind the where you put the cross has to be the exact centre of the missing ball which is practically impossible.

[Ethereal]

6 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Am I right in thinking York only get 1 point for Catchment Area (the population seems generally to be listed at just over 200k, whereas the threshold for getting the maximum 1.5 points is 260k)?

If so we could easily have a situation where, say, York beat Bradford or Toulouse, both of whom will get 1.5 points for Catchment Area regardless of their home attendances in a thrilling Grand Final, earning 0.25 points for winning that trophy in addition to the 0.1 for winning the 1895 Cup, but are edged out by the defeated finalists because of the fairly arbitrary thresholds for Catchment Area points.

We haven't yet really had to face the reality of some of the grading system, but that could be about to change in the next few months.

I think Toulouse are going to be very close to the 3,000 home attendance average which is worth half a point if you get over it.

Their biggest home attendance last season was the double header with England France (4907, next highest was 3542) this season was a double header with the Lord Derby semi-final (5390, next highest is 3700). It might be those two attendances that keep the average high enough and determine if they make it into Super League or not.

[Hopie]

1 hour ago, Ethereal said:

I think Toulouse are going to be very close to the 3,000 home attendance average which is worth half a point if you get over it.

Their biggest home attendance last season was the double header with England France (4907, next highest was 3542) this season was a double header with the Lord Derby semi-final (5390, next highest is 3700). It might be those two attendances that keep the average high enough and determine if they make it into Super League or not.

Double header shenanigans could be the future, play your game in an empty stadium but double head it with a more popular sport/competition to get over the line!

[The Blues Ox]

11 hours ago, Harry Stottle said:

Exciting times ahead for the Championship contenders, and I would love it 8f winning the GF was the route to promotion.

But with bated breath, are any of those teams you mention ready or equipped to take on life in SL, the last two promoted teams that have/are doing well in SL being Wakefield and Leigh each built squads whilst still in the Championship in preparation for promotion, eliminating the need for wholesale squad changes at the end of the season when most player's have already tied up with club's for the following season. Yes there will be no immediate threat of relegation the following season as I am aware we will still be under the spreadsheet method.

Just to point out again that Wakefield were not promoted on the field last season and although they won the grand final, the season could have been very different if the final game decided promotion but as it were there was no incentive for any other team to spend money to make the back end of the season actually a contest.

[Harry Stottle]

6 minutes ago, The Blues Ox said:

Just to point out again that Wakefield were not promoted on the field last season and although they won the grand final, the season could have been very different if the final game decided promotion but as it were there was no incentive for any other team to spend money to make the back end of the season actually a contest.

Yes I agree, but for me that is what is totally wrong with this system, in bold.

[Gooleboy]

3 hours ago, Hopie said:

Double header shenanigans could be the future, play your game in an empty stadium but double head it with a more popular sport/competition to get over the line!

Leeds United v Arsenal at Featherstone before we play Hunslet will give us a boost!

[Fevrover]

10 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

Leeds United v Arsenal at Featherstone before we play Hunslet will give us a boost!

Leeds utd against ANY team lol.

[marklaspalmas]

11 hours ago, Gooleboy said:

Leeds United v Arsenal at Featherstone before we play Hunslet will give us a boost!

Thinking outside the box. I like it. There's a huge fan base for the Gunners in the local area and I'm sure plenty of Spurs fans will turn out too and hope they lose. 

[LeeF]

You are all missing a trick here. The other game should be a RU one as they always get attendance of c1 billion according to the Union Calculator (see Cross Code for numerous examples)

[Gav Wilson]

13 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

Just to point out again that Wakefield were not promoted on the field last season and although they won the grand final, the season could have been very different if the final game decided promotion but as it were there was no incentive for any other team to spend money to make the back end of the season actually a contest.

Wakefield's play-off game against York was absolutely a contest.

Even if it was under the old system clubs wouldn't have bust themselves trying to keep up with them.

[The Blues Ox]

1 hour ago, Gav Wilson said:

Wakefield's play-off game against York was absolutely a contest.

Even if it was under the old system clubs wouldn't have bust themselves trying to keep up with them.

Im not saying clubs would have bust themselves trying to keep up with them but if promotion was on the line certain clubs would have brought players in later on in the season but as it were it was a forgone conclusion which really offered no excitement to anyone outside the 2 teams playing in it.

[marklaspalmas]

So three Championship clubs to SL after all in 2026. You couldn't make it up 

[Hopie]

1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said:

So three Championship clubs to SL after all in 2026. You couldn't make it up 

No guarantees they are limited to the Championship.

At least 2 spaces available, but it could be 3.

[gingerjon]

2 hours ago, marklaspalmas said:

So three Championship clubs to SL after all in 2026. You couldn't make it up 

You absolutely could predict that RL would not allow IMG to succeed and would use the uneasiness some had with aspects of the process to further contract the game to their imagined and preferred heartlands.

Perfect was the enemy of good and because the IMG partnership wasn’t gleaming in every way, enough people moaned about it and now they have what they want: real rugby league people running the game the way they always have.

 

[RP London]

5 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

You absolutely could predict that RL would not allow IMG to succeed and would use the uneasiness some had with aspects of the process to further contract the game to their imagined and preferred heartlands.

Perfect was the enemy of good and because the IMG partnership wasn’t gleaming in every way, enough people moaned about it and now they have what they want: real rugby league people running the game the way they always have.

 

"Independent panel" to chose the other 2....FFS.. screams FUDGE!!.

Why would anyone invest money in RL.. 

[gingerjon]

Just now, RP London said:

Why would anyone invest money in RL.. 

They wouldn't.

But it's what everyone who raised objections to the partnership wanted: the game is back in the game's hands.