Super League IMG gradings – where Wigan, Hull FC, Hull KR, Wakefield and Leigh will likely sit

Super League and the 12 sides for next year are being determined, for the first time, by IMG grading – unlike we’ve seen in recent years, where there has been promotion and relegation.

The IMG grading is based on five main categories – or ‘pillars’: Fandom, Performance, Finances, Stadium and Community.

Most clubs haven’t released where they sit on each aspect, meaning it’s impossible to be absolutely certain of where everyone is likely to be at the end of the season.

However, we’ve done our best to look at what we can work out from information that has been released.

Here’s what Super League will likely look like in 2025, ordered by indicative grading in 2023.

Grade A Super League sides

Leeds Rhinos – 17.49

Wigan Warriors – 16.87

St Helens – 16.78

Catalans Dragons – 16.73

Warrington Wolves – 15.75

Hull KR – 15.52

Hull FC – 15.05

There were seven Grade A sides when the indicative grading was revealed late in 2023, with the ‘Big Three’ of Leeds, Wigan and St Helens at the top of the pile – with Hull FC the final one.

They may well have been saved by IMG, as they could very possibly finish bottom of the pile, but were never going to be below London Broncos (24th in the indicative grading) or even the likes of Leigh and Castleford.

The counter-argument to that is, of course, that they may have tried to sort their situation out rather than focusing on 2025 if they didn’t know they were safe already.

Grade A sides automatically get a Super League spot, and as these clubs shouldn’t have dropped down in the ranking, they’ll all be once again lining up in Super League next year.

Grade B sides set to be in Super League

Salford Red Devils – 13.8

The highest-ranked Grade B side, Salford were 8th – comfortably behind Hull FC, the final Grade A club.

They’ll be happy to have their stadium’s future understood now, as Salford Council have bought it, and there’s plenty of room for improvement there – but we haven’t yet seen this.

This deal may well help with getting 0.25 points for ‘primacy of tenure’ if that wasn’t already factored in.

Their high ranking was surely helped by their performances in Super League, and will certainly improve on this as they finished 11th in 2021, which won’t count towards rankings at the end of this year.

Huddersfield Giants – 13.49

Originally graded in 9th position in the grading, the Giants may be nervously looking over their shoulders now.

When the gradings were revealed, their Managing Director, Richard Thewlis, said: “Our crowds are critically important as that naturally leads into the digital engagement side of things and ultimately finance.

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

However, their average attendance has actually decreased slightly, with their 2023 average being 5,247 and their 2024 average, so far, being 5,151.

They also need to hope they can improve their performance score, which would require a finish above ninth – which is currently hanging in the balance.

Wakefield Trinity – 12.52

Trinity have been making improvements on and off the field since relegation last year, and were safely in 11th place when indicative grading was revealed.

The improvements at Belle Vue will likely take them up above Toulouse Olympique and safely back into Super League for 2025, regardless of whether they win the Championship Grand Final.

Leigh Leopards – 12.45

Derek Beaumont has been characteristically open about his views on IMG – but also gave us a bit of an idea of where they could rank ahead of 2025.

12th in the indicative gradings – and outside the Super League spots with Castleford’s adjustment included – he’s spoken at length about his plans for the side to be Grade A.

He said in December: “I’ve been deliberating in here and we get to the magic number of 15, which is Grade A and that’s what we will be announced as next year is 15.05 at least as a Grade A. We can improve depending on what we achieve this year but it definitely won’t go worse.

“So Leigh will be the 8th Grade A club and I can say that to our fans with gratuity and our sponsors and partners.”

The 15.05 would indeed make them a Grade A side, and they’d therefore be exempt from relegation from Super League.

Castleford Tigers – 12.16

Originally placed outside of the top 12, the indicative grading from last year would have worried some of the club’s supporters.

Cas were perhaps the side with the most notable response to the indicative grades, suggesting that they, and the RFL, had both made a mistake – and that they should have been in 11th place, with 12.91 points.

At the time, they also outlined their plans to achieve a Grade A score by the end of the 2025 season, and to have a score of 14.25 by the end of 2024.

It looks like the Tigers are in a pretty good place at the moment – they’ve followed up on promises already and look set to improve further, largely thanks to owning their own ground.

On top of this, Toulouse don’t expect to make huge improvements in their score, so at least, Castleford will hope to have leapfrogged them in the Super League spots.

Looking further forward, the planning permission for large-scale stadium redevelopment of Wheldon Road will shake this all up again if the redevelopment does take place. On that, Martin Jepson has spoken about the fact he is of the belief that the club will earn maximum points for their facilities.

Sides that will likely just miss out

Toulouse Olympique – 12.97

Despite originally being in 10th, Toulouse will have struggled to keep up with other sides – their performance hasn’t improved, and they don’t own their stadium, which belongs to a rugby union side.

Wakefield Trinity, Leigh Leopards and Castleford Tigers were all close behind them, and we expect all three to jump above them into the final Super League spots.

Bradford Bulls – 12.02

The Bulls are the final side that ever really had hope of making it, but there is nothing to suggest they’ve really improved their ranking even nearly enough to make up ground on the sides above them.

Despite it looking like Odsal Stadium will finally be theirs again soon, they don’t have enough time to bring it up to scratch.

Bradford Bulls will miss out on a Super League space for 2025.