Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has highlighted the aspect that makes Hull FC ‘an advert’ for what is wrong with the IMG system.
Beaumont’s spats and digs at Hull FC have dated back to early May when the Black and Whites announced the signing of Leigh skipper John Asiata in a move that Beaumont believed saw Asiata ‘thrown under the bus’.
Speaking on the matter, Beaumont said: “Desperate people do desperate things and that’s what I kind of put it down to because they look pretty desperate.”
Tensions would heighten as Hull FC went on to sign three more Leigh players and it seems that there is still a little bit of needle with Beaumont claiming that the Black and Whites will lose their Grade A status.
We’ll find out if that’s the case when the IMG grades are released on Wednesday morning but the alleged ‘downed tools’ attitude that Beaumont would level at FC so often throughout the season is something he’s spoken on again recently.
Why Hull FC are “an advert” for what is wrong with IMG
Credit: Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com
Appearing as a guest on the Super League Raw Youtube channel, the Leigh owner pointed to FC’s alleged lack of care over the 2024 campaign, given the fact their safety was secured due to their high grading.
Because on-field performance accounts for just five of the twenty available points, Beaumont argued that FC had been allowed to down tools with that pinpointed as “an advert” for why the system must change.
“That is an advert for why you can’t have a competition where your on-field performance counts for so little,” he would argue, before explaining how the Leopards had fared.
“For Leigh, we’re marginally over 15 but of that, only 3.2 comes from performance and that in my book is wrong.
“We’re ranked as the eighth-best team in Super League. That is worth 3.2 points and I just don’t think that is enough when I can score 3.8 on finances and 4.2 on fandom.”
He did confirm that the Leopards had been forced to embrace the system and prop up their performance and fandom pillars with the finance pillar, something he was happy to as it helped ‘drive standards’.
“If you’re going to measure (the success of) IMG then there are a couple of things that I would say. Driving standards is critical so I’m fully supportive of any model that wants us to drive our standards and be better.
“We knew we would lose the Challenge Cup (0.25 point bonus) and we knew we could not get our attendance above the 7,500 threshold due to our season in the Championship. For us, it was about boosting the utilisation score and then the massive shift came from my financial manoeuvres.
“We undoubtedly did things that improved our club and the numbers that came through the door off the back of the pressure associated with IMG. That’s a positive.”
Anonymous
October 20, 2024 at 11:56 pm
Sour grapes springs to mind.
Hull played the system to their advantage financially. The on-field performance was probably hindered by more factors than Derek or any fans know about. He’s just mad Hull beat the system and signed a few of his squad for next year.
Colin Beney
October 21, 2024 at 7:37 am
Grow up no one forces player’s to sign up to another team. All three know hull’s current position and seem quite happy with the transfer. Sour grapes Beaumont get over it.