Yesterday, the IMG Grades were revealed with Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Catalans Dragons, Warrington Wolves, Hull KR and Hull FC all being awarded Grade As.

This means they are guaranteed their place in Super League moving forward.

Not far behind the top seventh, in ninth, is the Huddersfield Giants.

They appear relatively pleased with their score but remain concerned about attendances moving forward.

Giants Managing Richard Thewlis said: “The grading is exactly where we believed it would be from our perspective given the information and data that we have submitted to the Rugby Football League.

“The challenge was always going to be to get to the 15 point mark and the A grade classification which will be so important going forward. Every area identified by IMG counts of course and from a supporter point of view our crowds are critically important as that naturally leads into the digital engagement side of things and ultimately finance.

“Our season cards have been priced accordingly to both keep the existing loyal core and to increase with new holders particularly younger ones and to date we are showing good growth there. We expect every club to improve next year as the focus really hits home on grading and we also expect the squad assembled next year to improve upon our disappointment last year which would also bring higher marks to our overall classification.

“The simple reality remains though that we need to increase our crowds, TV audiences and digital followers.”

Salford finished one place above the Giants and Paul King, Managing Director of Salford Red Devils said;

“We welcome the news today with the illustrative grading placing us 8th amongst all Clubs.

“We are broadly in line with where we thought we would be at this point, and are under no illusion as to the amount of hard work that must continue to be done over the next 12 months for us to attain the Grade A that we know we can.

“There are some really positive projects in the pipeline, and with everybody’s continued support, we’re confident that we can secure our position in Super League.”