Jon Wilkin glad to see unambitious clubs get their comeuppance under IMG

The first ever IMG gradings have been revealed with Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, Hull FC, Hull KR, St Helens and Catalans Dragons awarded Grade A status.

The rest of Super League has been given a Grade B in a move that has proven very divisive among fans.

But Jon Wilkin is glad to see the less ambitious clubs get their comeuppance so they can lift themselves up.

He explained on Sky Sports: “The league is a handful of clubs who have led the way for ages and do the right things. You know, your Leeds, Wigan, St Helens and Catalan Dragons more recently.

“And they’ve done the right things. They’ve developed the club. They have an extremely strong connection with their fans, the finance, digital marketing strategies. All of the elements of a club that you need to be successful.

“All the elements of any sort of organisation that you need to be successful.

“And then we’ve got a handful of clubs who’ve just scratched around, not really done what they’ve needed said they’re going to improve the stadium haven’t done so have sort of mediocre fan experience not really contributing awful lot to the competition and they’re getting the same TV distribution as the clubs that do all the right things so this is absolutely a kick up the backside for clubs who’ve just wandered around for 20 years painfully just dragging the heels and just getting by.

“And if we’ve got any aspirations as a sport, we need to take the example what our fantastic clubs set and use that as the benchmark and drive the clubs that aren’t reaching that standard to get there.”

He then reflected on his time at Toronto Wolfpack and how they only showed short term interest and how this can be amended moving forward:

“The problem with sport is, Will, as you know, it’s such a short-term thing. So you could invest in a squad just to get in Super League.

“I went over to Toronto and played, and there’s a guy there with a lot of cash said we’re going to get Toronto in Super League. COVID hit, he pulled the pin, he left all the players short on money, didn’t pay any suppliers and this sort of structure is designed to stop things like that from happening.

“So I think it’s going to be a good thing. It’s just going to take some period of adjustment. There’s so many questions about how often it’s reviewed, when it’s reviewed, you know, the period of appeal, Castleford are appealing the illustrative score, like if you’re appealing and that decision then decides who goes into Super League and who doesn’t, I think it could be a big source of drama for the sport, but if it pushes clubs to get the house in order and get a bit closer to the top teams, then I believe it’s going to be a good thing for Rugby League. I’m not going to say it’s going to work in other sports, but for Rugby League it might just be the thing that makes a difference.”