‘Hope it’s the last time’- Rugby League CEO hits out at RFL over IMG grading

With Rugby League entering a new era, clubs are starting to submit their grading data and one side have hit out with a punchy statement.

That club is the League One team Hunslet, which was one of just a handful of rugby league teams that voted against the initial IMG proposals. After their latest statement, it would appear that the club’s attitude has not changed.

The Leeds-based club ranked 29th on the initial indicative gradings that were released last season and they’ve now argued that they could struggle to get close to a Grade B, given the fact that the criteria does not apply to them in many cases.

That was one of several arguments that their CEO made in a brilliantly written and constructive argument against the introduction of grading, with the key takeaway being that he hopes the Rugby Football League can U-turn so that the club will never have to go through the “pretty demoralising” process ever again.

Plenty of the IMG grading is irrelevant for a League One club given that promotion to the Championship is earned on-field, as opposed to on paper, and that’s something the club could achieve this year as they head into the play-offs this weekend.

‘Has Rugby League learned nothing in 25 years?’ – Hunslet RLFC take aim at RFL and IMG in classy statement

The statement in full can be read on the club’s website but also below. It gives a brilliant insight into how far the gap is between League One and the Super League sides such as Castleford who have put money into their stadium and big screens to ensure Super League status.

The statement read: “A number of people have asked me about the current round of IMG grading, so I thought I’d provide an update.

“Last week, I submitted this year’s grading return form and I’d like to formally place on record my thanks to Phil Hodgson and Gaz Evans for providing their support in the finance and social media sections respectively. Certainly, without their input the return would have been even more difficult to complete.

“The process is both time consuming and, I have to say, pretty demoralising when you realise it would be almost impossible for a Club like ours to ever achieve grade A status. As it is, I think we could now struggle to move into grade B this year and, with potential increases to social media targets for 2025, we may well be a Grade C club for some time to come yet. However, the reality is that this process has no impact internally as we will continue to grow our business in a focussed and sustainable way. It also doesn’t deny us any opportunity for promotion into the Championship either. The main consequence is what the grade portrays to the wider public, that we are a Club not at the required standard. But that’s the wrong message to send.

“We are a progressive Club. We play in a fairly modern stadium. We are sourcing new income streams through proactive relationships with South Leeds FC and Hunslet Wolves RFC. We are working with them to create a sports hub at South Leeds Stadium that will benefit the local community. We are also in talks with the Council around other potential income stream opportunities and in positive discussions with potential new sponsors as we look to make that step change that will hopefully see us gain promotion to the Championship. Yet, under the IMG scoring process, particularly on the facilities side, we will be simply marked down for not meeting requirements on issues which have very little significance in the large scheme of things. In fact some of those requirements actually go against our ethos as a supporter owned Club. That’s the realistic downside of this process, and to be honest. I’ve yet to see any upside. I continue to raise our concerns directly with the RFL and I have offered to be part of any meaningful working group that may be set up to make the process fit for purpose.

“As I’ve said many times before though, no one can ever be against improving standards, but I don’t believe that sport was ever meant to be judged primarily in that way. Performance on the field should be paramount. Promotion and relegation are, and always will be, the life blood of British sport and we should embrace that and see it as a strength rather than try to consider it as some kind of hindrance that requires a level of immunity. If you take away hopes and dreams then what’s left?

“Let’s also not forget, that when IMG undertook their game wide consultation that led to the creation of the grading system, 76% of fans actually wanted to retain P&R across the sport, so the support is there on the terraces. It’s now elsewhere too. Sir Lindsey Hoyle, the current RFL President, expressed the same view over the weekend. I’d strongly urge the RFL to listen to him carefully.

“We remain proud to be one of the few Clubs that voted against what we see as an unjust system and, in its current guise, we would absolutely do so again. In the meantime, I can confirm that we will be advised of our 2024 score on 12 September, and we will again commit to releasing our full results once the process has been completed across all three leagues in October. I can only hope that this is the last time we use the grading system, and that the RFL moves back to supporting and promoting the product on the pitch as it’s number one priority, rewarding success appropriately, including allowing promotion and relegation between Super League and Championship.

“Last week, we lost our President and ex Chairman Grahame Liles. Grahame was at the helm of the Club in 1999 when we secured promotion to Super League only to be denied by the RFL bringing in a ruling on the requirement to have a ground capacity of 10000. A rule that was not being met by several existing Super League Clubs at the time, but they were all granted a dispensation that was not forthcoming to us. We lost 1500 fans almost overnight. They didn’t just disappear from the Club, they disappeared from the sport. That’s the stark reality of not rewarding on field performance in the right way. It was also the beginning of the end of Grahame’s rein as Chairman as the experience left him devastated. The last time I spoke to Grahame, he asked me about the grading system. When I explained it he said “Why are they always trying to protect the Clubs at the top table? Haven’t they learnt anything in the last 25 years?.”

“Some people see straight through the emperor’s new clothes.”

Hunslet Rugby League Football Club will travel to Rochdale on Sunday in their bid to earn promotion.