Leigh Leopards secured a play-off place with a win over St Helens but they’ve now claimed that they have achieved Grade A status.
That came in a statement on the club’s website in the immediate aftermath of their 18-12 victory over St Helens. It was a win that ensured they would finish fifth in Super League and secure them a play-off clash with Salford Red Devils.
It comes in improbable circumstances after they won just one of their opening seven games but they finished the season strong with ten wins from twelve, and now they’re celebrating Grade A status under IMG.
Of course, grades will not be officially confirmed until after the Grand Final but Leigh Leopards have released a lengthy statement with a full breakdown of their scores arguing that they believe they will comfortably surpass 15 points.
The Leopards had made the calculations on a ‘worst-case scenario’ basis, meaning that their score would potentially improve as they had accounted for a seventh-placed finish, something that they are now certain to surpass.
Leigh Leopards ‘confirm’ Grade A status
Credit: Paul Currie/SWpix.com
Sharing their statement via X, Leigh Leopards posted: “Leopards submit Grade A IMG Score,” before adding: “These transparently show how we have achieved a score of more than 15 and a Grade A status.”
The statement would then begin: “Leigh Leopards this evening, live in the Leopards Den, at Leigh Sports Village notified its key stakeholders, sponsors and members of the detail of the scoring of the IMG pillars. These transparently show how we have achieved a score of more than 15 and a Grade A status, which we have submitted to the RFL within their framework.
“The detail was fully audited internally by the club’s chartered accountants and was based on a worst case scenario of tonight’s result and crowd against St Helens.”
Club owner Derek Beaumont then gave his verdict before the Leigh Leopards provided a breakdown of how they had come to a score of 15.1257, a figure that would ensure their Super League status and represent a boost of over 2.5 points from the indicative grades released last year.
Within the statement, Beaumont argued: “I am well aware that the RFL, through external auditors, will deliver each club’s total score but I am absolutely certain that whilst our score cannot possibly be to the decimal point at the time of writing, that the worst-case scenario still delivers us as a grade A club that simply cannot be contested and can be stated to our stakeholders with transparency and certainty.”
Beaumont had earlier presented Sky Sports presenter Jenna Brooks with a ‘humble’ pie as he argued that pundit picks tipping Leigh Leopards to finish outside the top six had motivated his side throughout the season.
