[urlhttps://twitter.com/RL_RKC/status/1717615790831149329/photo/1[/url



Full performance rankings and when we add our bonus for the 1895 cup puts us 0.22 points in front of Bradford and 0.02 points behind Batley. It highlights just how little of importance on field results are though when it comes to the gradings and the funny thing is if we had done better this season or last and managed to finish above Batley in the averages, winning the 1895 cup would have had us only 0.014 points behind Fev for onfield performance.

Wonder if IMG realise that if a team isn’t performing well on the field you can have as many electronic scoreboards, advertisements and frills as you like but inside the ground there’ll be hardly anybody there to see them and with little to no tv coverage at our level even less on outside as well.

Yep, the Whinos are graded the best despite failing to reach the play offs and getting a couple of big spankings in the process. Quite insane. We may as well not bother at all with actually playing any games. We can all do something else on matchdays, save money in the process, and IMG can then announce the "virtual" winner in October each year.

A bit more talk on discussions on Champ & Champ 1 from Wednesday's meeting. https://t.co/a25nFtoWZP

A bit more talk on discussions on Champ & Champ 1 from Wednesday's meeting. https://t.co/a25nFtoWZP

This is exactly it. Everyone i talk to, rugby fan or not, says the same and at the end of the day i can not bring forward any argument against them saying, what's the point? If you wrote a crazy comedy play and put in what the RFL/IMG have come up with and implemented, folk would say it was too far fetched, bonkers. What is the point indeed, and we voted for it!

The statement from Kevin over at Batley is worth a read and I thought it were quite funny when he said he has seen teams moaning about it yet they voted for it and adds that he feels like he can complain if he desires seen as though he was one of the ones who voted against it. I like the bit in the statement where he says that on the field performance is still what he feels is the best target and will look to try and finish as high as possible on the field.



[urlhttps://batleybulldogs.co.uk/2023/10/26/img-gradings-the-chairmans-view/[/url

Just pretend we have broken away and they don’t exist, which to all intents and purposes the link has been severed and either watch it for what is or don’t bother.



I mean if everything being so bad with the powers that be, the structure, our own BoD and the club, if it was say a restaurant that was serving up food we didn’t like who’d keep going in and buying a meal just to complain about it?

Of the lower league clubs did form a break away from SL and the governing body they RFL would be throwing a party behind the scenes. They would have got what they wanted without actually looking like the villain. They would invite Bradford and Wakefield in (who would accept) and that would be that.

Yep!

My opinion is.



Many in the lower leagues can barely survive as it is even with central funding as little as it is and have no chance without that income never mind all the other factors such as having to have some form of governance, match officials, medical staff, security, somewhere to play etc, which still has to be paid for.



Breaking away would be bring us all closer to breaking up or closer to the amateur game rather than the professional one and we already have clubs such as Siddal to watch at that level if that’s what we want.



Just do what they do to us, ignore them, take the money and say at least your not getting that and be as good as you can be on the pitch against your rivals who are in the same position.



It’s as close as we can get to the game we’d rather be watching and the game can be if we just shut them out.

It's all about parity, and the Fax - v Fev and Fax - v Toulouse matches were as good as any SL I've seen on the TV. There could be a very strong Championship with our own Grand Final, and yes, just ignore SL and let them get on with it. After all, SKY seem to be bothering less and less and continues to reduce its funding and eventually SL will be destitute relying entirely on sugar daddies (some couldn't survive without them as it is anyway). He who laughs last laughs longest, as the saying goes.

I’m not saying the lower leagues should break away. I’m just saying if it happened. The SL clubs and RFL would probably not give a toss

I think the current health of the game is summed up by the 8th best club, who are within spitting distance of an elite A grading, literally having had the (virtual) buckets out a few months ago in order to see them through the season - and that ranking is seen by many as being about right

Quote function not working again so copy and paste.

Quote : I’m not saying the lower leagues should break away. I’m just saying if it happened. The SL clubs and RFL would probably not give a toss.



We know you weren't and to use a popular on thread analogy, just saying to do so would be like turkeys voting to introduce thanks giving after just voting for Christmas!!

Yeah total madness yet them and Wakey with some minor improvements can get themselves to be A graded clubs. That to me just screams that the bar is set way too low when basket case clubs are so close to been classed as an elite club. Even IMG were surprised we had so many A clubs which maybe says they have not thought the rankings thorugh that well when the game is in such a mess but over half the clubs are elite.

Copy and paste again.



"It's all about parity, and the Fax - v Fev and Fax - v Toulouse matches were as good as any SL I've seen on the TV. There could be a very strong Championship with our own Grand Final, and yes, just ignore SL and let them get on with it. After all, SKY seem to be bothering less and less and continues to reduce its funding and eventually SL will be destitute relying entirely on sugar daddies (some couldn't survive without them as it is anyway). He who laughs last laughs longest, as the saying goes.



Yep. Ball cocks to them.

They may think they are this superior band of brothers but they are actually the small minority and outside their domineering little world everybody else in the game and most of the neutrals know what they have and are doing to the game and are the most despised group of individuals from every sport in the UK.



In the past I can't remember the last time I was at a Fax game and gave even 1 seconds thought to what Wigan, Leeds or any of them were doing.



They didn't affect my enjoyment, disappointments or whatever one jot then and they won't do in the future.

Follow up statement from the club. https://t.co/mp7v2nc4j1 Worth noting that this board have only been involved in the last 12 months of the 3 year assessment period.

Follow up statement from the club. https://t.co/mp7v2nc4j1 Worth noting that this board have only been involved in the last 12 months of the 3 year assessment period.

Just to confirm, the only thing that is based on a 3 year average is the on field performance isnt it? Our board saying different though. Again suggests flaws in the grading system when even teams seem to not fully understand how things work.



Our finances are clearly a mess though but i think a lot of us suspected that.

A cat amongst pigeons article i suspect https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... dium=email

A cat amongst pigeons article i suspect https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/sport/ru ... dium=email

Just to reemphasise the current board have only been involved for the last 12 months and whatever their longer term input is will only be seen further down the line but during the last year things seems to be heading in the right direction even if in small steps.



If there is anyone else who has deeper pockets and are sure they could do a better job with the state of the game at the moment then please have a go.

No, just about everything is based on a 3 year average (catchment area being one that's not but that's extremely unlikely to change anyway). I'm not sure why there should be any confusion, as it's clearly stated in the grading handbook.

Just quoting for comparison purposes:-



Fax

Performance 2.39/5

Fandom 3.2/5

Finances 0.55/4.5

Stadium 1.67/3

Community 1.25/2.5



I guess its like what we expected and looking at the grades the club has done well on the Fandom score although I think the reality is that Bradford's score will come down next season in this respect due to reasons that Fev alluded to in their statement. Again though they do get a lot more fans than us which will translate in to clicks so we have done pretty well to be so close to them.

Community as mentioned we can't do anything about this really and this is the most ridiculous pillar in the gradings. Stadium wise it does look like we got the full 1.5 score for the facilities along with the big screen bonus and the rest made up on utilisation.

Leaves us with finances which we have the lowest score that we have seen any club given which is obviously a worry but we could spin it and say that with some investment we have the potential to make a lot of points up here on our competitors.



Overall I know Matt Shaw likes to be a bit of a drama queen at times and in the article calls for Fax fans to get real, I think the majority of Fax fans see ourselves as miles off a SL club but promotion and relegation did at least give us hope, I mean going in to this season I can't have been the only fan who had thought we had a sneaky outside chance of promotion can I. London eventually went up so it shows that it was in fact possible. Now you look at our scores in this system and tell me where we find 4 points from that turns us from a low B to a borderline SL club.



Our scores on performance, fandom, stadium, and community are not so far off been the max that we can achieve due to different restrictions and finances just been in the championship is quite restrictive in itself. You take all that in to consideration and its very clear to see that a team like ours is not supposed to be in the top flight under the new system.

Thanks for confirming, I'm just going over the handbook again and I'd got a little confused as to what was for the full 3 years and what isn't. Like the bonuses for winning cups only counts the current season which seems a tad unfair and a strange way to do things when like you say other things are judged on the full 3 years.

The current board haven’t really had the the time to have an impact on the finances as of yet , they did state that they would try and get more sponsors involved which I’ve heard is going to happen , whether these new sponsors eventually become shareholders remains to be seen but there is potentially exciting times ahead if they do . I believe croads involvement with the club ends at the end of the month with regards the shop etc . I’m on the fence with the img thing but tbh it doesn’t change a great deal , Halifax are a club that could grow with investment but ultimately we’ve been a championship club for sometime. The thing that will be problematic is when for example Wakefield play Widnes/york/fax/ fev in the final even if Wakefield lose they still go up , just looks daft .

Your not supposed to mention the shop.