THE line-up of Super League will be revealed over this Thursday and Friday (October 16-17), with one of the few certainties that Salford Red Devils will be out.
Salford have lurched from crisis to crisis in the 12 months since club gradings were last released, when they came 12th with 13.97 points out of 20 to retain their top-flight spot.
They required a significant central funding advance in the off-season before a takeover of the club in February, which failed to provide the promised cash injection.
Debts have risen with loans sought to cover the club’s operating costs, and a winding-up petition filed by HMRC is due to be heard on October 29.
The majority of the first-team squad departed during the season as a result of their issues and Salford finished bottom of Super League with only three wins.
While a year’s delay in accounts means the hit to their finance score may be limited, the Red Devils will take a hit on the performance metric, as well as receiving a deduction of 0.25 as a result of breaching the RFL’s operational rules for the round-one team selection which also saw them docked two competition points.
And while a further two clubs could take part in Super League next season, with an independent panel poised to adjudicate who should join the top 12 clubs in the grading table, Salford won’t be among them.
The Red Devils opted not to apply for that process, which will apply rigorous financial scrutiny of bidding clubs largely as a result of events in Eccles over the past year.
Salford’s slide means at least one Championship club will make the step up through their grading score, along with another pair if given the nod by a panel chaired by RFL board member Lord Jonathan Caine when announced at 10am on Thursday.
The race for a grading spot could be close. Toulouse Olympique were 13th in the rankings last time, with 13.58 points, and received 0.25 points for winning the Championship Grand Final.
But York Knights and Bradford Bulls are anticipating increases from scores of 12.42 and 12.15 respectively, with the former improving on performance and the latter hoping for big boosts to their facilities and finance points.
London Broncos came 14th in last year’s gradings, with 12.65 points, but no significant change is expected to their tally.
The capital club are, however, making a big push for one of the additional places, following a recent takeover by businessman Grant Wechsel and Rugby League great Darren Lockyer.
Bids have also been submitted to the panel, whose decisions will be made at 10am on Friday, by second-tier sides Doncaster, Oldham and Widnes Vikings.
Huddersfield Giants and Hull FC complete a nine-strong list of clubs to make format applications, having come 10th and 11th respectively in the last grading table, but should retain their Super League places regardless.
The independent panel will also include outgoing RFL chief executive Tony Sutton, interim RFL head of legal Graeme Sarjeant, non-executive RFL directors Abi Ekoku and Dermot Power, RL Commercial managing director Rhodri Jones and Peter Hutton, the senior independent non-executive director of RL Commercial and a Super League board member.
According to the RFL, this panel will judge clubs on the grading metrics but also their financial performance and future forecasts, plus their ability to field a competitive team next season, for which analysis will be provided by the England Performance Unit.