Despite the season already having come to a close, it’s a big week for rugby league clubs due to the IMG grading.
Clubs submitted their own scores for them to be checked auditors in a process that Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont compared to ‘marking your own homework’. Despite that, it has already proven to be a system that is susceptible to errors, as Castleford Tigers found out last year with the preliminary grades.
The Tigers received the wrong score due to the wrong data being included for the grading meaning that their indicative grading placed them out of the top 12 and therefore out of the Super League spots.
Now, ahead of tomorrow morning’s reveal, another club has made a similar mistake.
Rugby league IMG grading saga kicks off with team missing deadline
Credit: John Clifton/SWpix.com
Whitehaven, who have been relegated to League One for the 2025 campaign, revealed in a statement today: “Ahead of tomorrow’s IMG grading announcement the club can announce that our grading will come back as ‘Grading Incomplete.’
“This has come on the back of information from the club being submitted a couple of days later than the initial deadline. The club however would like to thank the RFL for their work alongside us in this matter and confirm we will be granted a score in the coming weeks which will go alongside the other scores throughout the game.
“Once the club have been made aware of the score we will update all with an interest at the club at the earliest opportunity.”
Everything you need to know about the IMG grades ahead of Wednesday update
With the club not expected to be anywhere near the top 12 clubs in the grading, they aren’t in the run for a Super League spot, meaning this won’t necessarily have much of an impact on the club.
There’s still promotion and relegation between the Championship and League One meaning that Whitehaven will be able to bounce back into the Championship next season regardless of their grading, but for now, the club’s score will be unconfirmed after the error in their submission.
