https://twitter.com/TheGameCaller/statu ... 8739233104

https://twitter.com/TheGameCaller/statu ... 8739233104

Woohoo, Leeds are Champions of Super League despite having a crap team. How on earth can anyone call this game a sport anymore. It's an effing joke. Doesn't matter what you do on the field, an Excel spreadsheet will decide your future. They will kill the end of season games and I fear for the clubs left out. Some of the teams above us are a joke, especially Toulouse and Wakey. Last person out please switch the lights off. They should bin IM effing G before they kill the game.

Roll on Derek and his investors new league Ultimate Rugby. Super League or whatever IMG rename it - I suggest Droopy league - died today.

To be honest, I am a little surprised at our 12th place. On the other hand I have taken some flak for suggesting Leigh's social media is a joke. There have been some improvements but nowhere near enough. Not having a website for most of the season is a disgrace and then publishing something that is amateurish at best and with very little content. Leopards TV should be free or available on YouTube.

The team is now performing, there is a thriving Women's team, but there is still no reserve grade or academy (fault lies entirely with RFL).

I have no doubt Leigh can up the score for next season, but as Wysiwyg pointed out there are plenty of teams above Leigh who are doing a far worse job.

The whole IMG thingy is a Boad o Lollocks!!

website was a failure but only totals 0.5 hope the club publishes score breakdown

Very surprising that Toulouse achieved a higher ranking than us.

[uSomething screwy about the whole gradings, and it's nothing but a pile of Cack! [/u

IMG were brought in to do a specific thing. Unofficially, of course, their remit was protectionism. Wow! Leeds, Wigan, St Helens, Warrington and the two Hulls (plus the RFL's pet project, Catalans) get a Grade A. Who'da thought it?

Bongser's read on the gradings (for what it's worth) is this: IMG looked for all the things that the preferred clubs had and that not many others did. They then allotted loads of points to those things. Job Done Sticker!

Trouble is that the rest of the rankings, as a result, are an absolute dog's dinner that makes them look like complete fools - or, maybe, shows them for who they are?

How long is it since Thunder called it a day - couple of weeks? Not long enough for IMG! Their graphic (or maybe that of the RFL) shows Newcastle six places above London. London are a Super League club on merit as they won the "MPG" last season - the fact that Bongser has always been against the RFL (& SkY's) Play Off shenanigans (as they used to say at the end of every episode of "Tales of the Riverbank"icon_wink.gif is a tale for another day. London are ranked 24th out of 36 (should be 35)! Yes, as a very bitter poster on Broncos' forum would tell you at length, there is a lot to do to improve the prospects of RL in our glorious capital - but having SL clubs visit every fortnight would surely help!

Bongser is told that Leigh's Challenge Cup win is not included in these gradings (and, it is to be assumed therefrom) their high league finish. Have IMG left one person (gender neutral) of circa 80 IQ to deal with things?

If IMG can't market themselves, how are they going to market our sport?

gradings are fully effective from 25.illustrative gradings issued end of 23 season so maybe ccup win is included.its worth 0.25
seems some/all measurements are based on last 3 years averages which may explain why certain teams currently rate above us
i am only layman but process is meant to be easy to read!
handbook is online have a go at scoring us but it would be nice to see official summary

we will have scored full marks on social media, website got required hits in weekend 1 and the reserves and academy play no scoring part

Tipster Ste, If what you say above about our scores is correct, how could Toulouse have ranked higher than Leigh given Toulouse only had one year on Super League finishing 12th?

i have no idea mate the only thing they should outside us on is community - based off the bull criteria

Here is the full doc taken from RFL site https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/do ... %20Version).pdf

Here is the full doc taken from RFL site https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/do ... %20Version).pdf

Thanks Ste, I read through that document yesterday and looking at the criteria used to score each pillar, if the integrity of the data applied can be relied upon, I find it hard to see how Toulouse can have achieved a higher ranking than Leigh. https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/do ... %20Version).pdf

Thanks Ste, I read through that document yesterday and looking at the criteria used to score each pillar, if the integrity of the data applied can be relied upon, I find it hard to see how Toulouse can have achieved a higher ranking than Leigh. https://www.rugby-league.com/uploads/do ... %20Version).pdf

The link in my post above does not seem to work.
You can get to the document by googling, IMG RFL Handbook

Did IMG publish a breakdown of the scores? I have not got the time to do IMG's job for them, but would like to know where Leigh can improve.

Having finally got a team that compete on the field it would be upsetting to be relegated because there is not enough Tik-Tok content.

I have only managed to find Bradford's scorecard, because they are trying to beat the council over the head to get better facilities.

Bradford scored a total of 12.02 points, ranking them as a high Grade B and they’ve now confirmed their scores in each respective pillar.

Performance – 2.17 points from 5 – 43%
Fandom – 3.95 points from 5 – 79%
Finances – 2.75 from 4.5 – 61%
Stadium – 0.89 from 3 – 30%
Community – 2.25 from 2.5 – 90%

Not sure how they scored any points for Stadium.

Salford's scorecard which is ideally were Leigh need to target are:

Performance – 3.43 points from 5
Fandom – 4.15 points from 5
Finances – 2.15 from 4.5
Stadium – 1.83 from 3
Community – 2.25 from 2.5

If the scores are with the clubs, there is little chance of Derek releasing them to the general public, so much for transparency.

Now, now, Sev; you can't 'alf be a grumpy little sausage at times!



How about asking nicely:

Please, Mr Beaumont, after all that you have done for our club (for which we are most grateful), please could we view the full breakdown of the IMG gradings (including on the sub-sections) that we as loyal fans might see how we may further do OUR bit for the greater glory of Leigh Leopards.

Thank you in anticipation,

Name & Address supplied.

Bongser would love to see the same from Salford as some (not all) of those scores wrinkle his brow.

In all honesty, I think as a club, we have fulfilled quite a lot of expectancy in rugby league to dine at the top table. I also think that the silence from the club shows this, and it seems (at the moment) that Degsey isn't perturbed by this circus from the clowns at IMG.

do we possibly lose partial point because we are one of two teams in our borough french aint

we would possibly lose portion on performance over last 3 years community another one? fines? non centralised turnover
what is the big number?

Mr Mills, good evening, hope you are well?

Kindly rephrase those questions that Bongser may grasp them.

Not TTP just struggling to understand your post - unusually as they are normally clear.

With the absence of any concrete figures for the Leigh Leopards, I thought that I would delve into the B rankings and see what I could find.

There are 7 A rated clubs, so from a Leigh perspective we can ignore them, because under the mock exams they all passed and are therefore exempt from relegation. 8-14 is were the real action is happening and there is a natural gap between these 7 groups and Featherstone and Widnes. Castleford have now had a recount approved, pushing Leigh into the relegation zone.

8. Salford Red Devils – B – 13.80 – Super League
9. Huddersfield Giants – B – 13.49 – Super League
10. Toulouse Olympique – B – 12.97 – Championship
11. Castleford Tigers – B – 12.91 – Super League
12. Wakefield Trinity – B – 12.52 – Championship
13. Leigh Leopards – B – 12.45 – Super League
14. Bradford Bulls – B – 12.02 – Championship

Previously mentioned are the results for Salford and Bradford, which give a reasonable indication of where the points were gained and lost. Leigh are more similar to Salford than Bradford so I will concentrate on their figures.
Salford's scorecard:

Performance – 3.43 points from 5
Fandom – 4.15 points from 5
Finances – 2.15 from 4.5
Stadium – 1.83 from 3
Community – 2.25 from 2.5

Performance – Max Points - 5
Each season all clubs in Tiers 1-3 (Men’s only) are ranked 1-36 based on their final league positions each season i.e. after all matches have been played in each season.
The season league rankings are calculated over the last three seasons
2023 – Salford 7th (3.3333) – Leigh 5th + Challenge Cup (3.5556) + (0.25) = (3.8056)
2022 – Salford 6th (3.4444) – Leigh 13th (2.6667)
2021 – Salford 11th (2.8889) – Leigh 12th (2.777icon_cool.gif
Average Score: Salford - 3.2222 (Actual Salford score 3.43) Leigh - 3.0833 or (3.000 + 025) – (3.2500) Depending on whether the Challenge Cup is averaged over 3 years or not.
Roughly speaking performance over the 3 years Salford are 7th and Leigh 11th.

Fandom – Max Points – 5
Attendance – Average over the last 3 years

2023 achieved 8th spot in the average attendance for the season, including a new record against Wigan (sell out) stadium restricted with the stage for bands.
8. Leigh Leopards – 7,254; Highest: 10,308 v Wigan (R27); Lowest: 5,423 v Castleford (R11)

Salford – 3 years in Super league >3000 – worth 2 points
Leigh – 2 years in Super League >3000 – worth 2 points

Viewership – Average over the last 3 years - >150K = 1 and <150K = 0.75
Salford – 1 point
Leigh – 0.75

Digital – Social Following – Website Visits – Total Engagements
Maximum score – 1.5 and minimum score – 0.33
Salford scored 1.15
Leigh – best guess 0.625

Totals
Salford 4.15
Leigh – 3.375

Finances – 4.5 (Overall Weighting 22.5%) – 3 year average
Absolutely no idea, but as an outsider Salford are a community club with no debts and no money (selling club) Leigh have a benefactor but no stability outside of the owner.
Maximum score 4.5 and minimum 1.40
Salford scored 2.15
Leigh probably scored around the same 2.15

Stadium – 3 (Overall Weighting 15%)
Facilities – 1.5
Salford 1.5
Leigh 1.5
Utilisation – 1
Salford - 0.2
Leigh - 0.2
Primacy of Tenure – 0.25
Salford 0
Leigh - 0
LED – 0.125
Salford - 0.125
Leigh - 0.125
Big Screen – 0.125
Salford - 0.125
Leigh - 0.125

Salford scored 1.83
Leigh best guess 1.83

Community 2.5 (Overall Weighting 15%)
Catchment – 1.5
Salford – 1.5
Leigh – 1

Foundation – 1
Salford – 0.75
Leigh – 0.75

Salford – 2.25
Leigh – 2.0

Summary

This is a best guess as to how the points are distributed. Some fields are nailed on certainties and others are comparisons to Salford and an attempt to reach the final scores published

Salford Leigh
Performance 3.43 3.1
Fandom 4.15 3.375
Finances 2.15 2.15
Stadium 1.83 1.83
Community 2.25 2
13.81 12.455

In my opinion a good season in 2024 will raise the score, but we lose 0.25 unless Leigh can win the Challenge Cup again.

There are no addition points to be gained from Stadium and Community, so the big areas of gain must come from Fandom and Finances. There are 0.5 points available if the Average attendance is >7500 but that is unlikely due to 1 of the years being in the championship.

Gains can be made from improving merchandising and hopefully Patrick is a step in the right direction and the website is now able to accommodate E-commerce. Stories abound of people being unable to buy replica shirts and around the time of Challenge Cup the stall on the market was an empty cupboard.

The biggest single area of improvement is Digital Scoring. This does not appear to have a 3 year average. This means that improvements in the next 12 months will have a direct impact. A possible 0.9 is available if the digital team can start to develop some content across Facebook, Instagram and the Leopards website.

Did you have the day off today, Sep? Bongser did not - and missed the Second Test as a result (dead rubber coming up, hope Wane bloods Mulhern).

Day off tomorrow during which Bongser will try to assimilate your thunkings - for tonight we drink!