Even though Grade A clubs Leeds Rhinos, Wigan Warriors, St Helens, Catalans Dragons, Warrington Wolves, Hull KR and Hull FC will be the happiest, there are some other clubs who will be delighted with their IMG position.
These include the likes of Salford Red Devils and Huddersfield Giants who sit eighth and ninth in the rankings and have underlined their contentment at the rankings.
Championship club Toulouse Olympique will also be pleased with the outcome as will relegated Wakefield Trinity who finished above Super League clubs Leigh Leopards, Castleford Tigers and London Broncos.
That being said, though happy with the grades, Wakefield still feel the way they are conducted is inappropriate and unfair.
Their statement reads:
“Wakefield Trinity welcomes the publication of illustrative Grading outcomes based on the 2023 season. We continue to be supportive of the new method of assessing clubs’ readiness for participation in Super League which go “live” for the 2025 season.
“In the light of the difficult times the club have been through, particularly on the field in 2023, we are pleased with our outcome of 12.52 points and a ranking of 11th in the games’ overall pyramid. This reflects a significant improvement from the provisional score of 11.14 indicated to us in August with the improvement being largely due to the strong financial figures contained in our recently filed accounts and progress in our social media reach.
“Our results are particularly pleasing because they do not yet reflect the impact of our new East Stand which will be completed next month. We expect the facilities within the new stand to significantly lift our score when it is recalculated in October 2024. Matt Ellis and his new team also have several areas they are working on which are expected to yield even more progress.
“The one area we remain disappointed in is that of Catchment. We feel the current methodology is inappropriate and unfair on a major heartland of Rugby League such as the city of Wakefield and we look forward to continuing discussions as to how the measurement of this category might be improved in the coming year.”
Matt Ellis, new Club Owner, said: “Wakefield Trinity is a club heading for the highest levels of the game. The illustrative grading scores demonstrate a solid foundation for us to build on in 2024 both on and off the field as Daryl builds a team focussed on success in the Championship. We have our eyes firmly set on a return to Super League in 2025.”
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