Championship club issue IMG warning as system highlights ‘heart and soul’ flaw

One Championship side have ‘put options to the RFL’ after the failed vote to alter promotion and relegation under IMG.

A proposal put forward by Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams that would have seen Championship Grand Final winners with a Grade B IMG ranking gain promotion was rejected last Wednesday.

The proposal was heard at an RFL Council and put forward that the lowest Grade B Super League team be replaced by the winners of the Championship if they were also Grade B, with Super League expanded if all current teams were Grade A.

It was a vote that lost with 63% opposing it and Championship hopefuls Oldham have now commented on the matter. The Roughyeds have just gained promotion from League One in the traditional sense after lifting the title but they’ve now aired concerns over the IMG system.

Speaking on the club’s YouTube channel, Managing Director Mike Ford assessed IMG and their involvement in rugby league so far.

“12 or 18 months on and we’re finding out about the flaws in and there are a few, no doubt about that,” Ford explained, adding that the club have been penalised for playing at Boundary Lane, something he described as “not right”.

Ambitious Championship side highlight biggest IMG issue

He would quickly outline his biggest issue with IMG though, the points weighting surrounding performance as he highlighted how low the Roughyeds scored despite winning League One.

Ford said: “The one thing that me and Bill (Quinn – club chairman) are adamant on and is a big thing with other council members is that at the moment, it’s all to do with how many points you collect.

“Although we support IMG and what it’s doing with your facilities, your finances and your community, the one thing that is very flawed is the weighted towards performance points.

“The points you get playing on the field is not weighted enough. For example, last year we got 0.1 of a point for winning League One and there are 20 points to go for. For winning the Championship, you get a quarter of a point. We believe that on the field should be a lot more.”

Oldham only scored a Grade C when the scores became official but look likely to be challenging on-field. after putting together a very strong squad for 2025, Unfortunately for them, on-field promotion to Super League remains impossible which is something Ford bemoaned.

“Traditionally no matter what people say about American Football and NRL where there’s no relegation, in England promotion and relegation is in our DNA,” Ford explained.

“We have stakeholders in the stands, sponsors, a guy in Bill putting all his money in and we don’t want him walking away because we can’t get promoted on the field.

“I think that is a fair marker and the common man in the stands will understand that, if you win on the field you get rewarded. We put a few options to the council last Wednesday on how we feel it can work.”

After Ford confirmed ‘options’ had been put to the RFL, chairman Bill Quinn added: “It’s not over. We’ll keep striving with others to create a formula that works for everybody. You’ve got to have jeopardy, it puts bums on seats and creates interest.

“The play-off situation and everything that goes with promoting and relegation are the heart and soul of it. You work all season and want something from the end of it.

“Nothing will deter us from the journey, we’ll keep going and see where it takes us.”