Bradford Bulls • IMG Score

If we take all that you're saying as a matter of fact there isn't much to disagree with. However, the devil is in the detail and as you say the current process isn't perfect.

My main concern is that there is "incumbency bias" embedded into the assessment. For an existing SL club it's far easier to boost their numbers in certain areas simply by being in SL now rather than making any special effort. I'd prefer it if there was some weighting that rewarded clubs in the championship or in development areas who will never get the attendances that those in traditional areas will.

I remember when the IMG scores were announced last week that RL journalist Matt Newsome was trying to explain the process to Mark Chapman on 5Live and he had trouble selling it - the wider sporting public are used to P&R as it's the culture over here. Those who aren't advocates will dub it promotion via spreadsheet. You run the risk of losing people by making it a complicated process. This is sport at the end of the day and what happens on the field is why everyone is involved and that ought to be weighted appropriately.

I'm also a bit sceptical as to whether there will be genuine movement between SL and Championship. We shall see in future years if a Championship club gets a higher IMG number than an incumbent SL club. Will the goalposts be moved? What it the "relegated" club finishes high up the league table? Will some excuses be made? I guess this is a due to me seeing how licensing manifested itself - don't remember anyone being relegated due to off field criteria during that period. Unless the sceptics are proved wrong it'll soon become indefensible.

The romance of sport is in the jeopardy. Remove that and games can become sterile. Can clubs survive and keep fans and sponsors interested if the games they're attending lose their meaning? They may in the NRL where RL is the premier sport but over here with so many competing sports and passtimes I'm not sure sure. I'm not sure how fans of clubs like Cas, Huddersfield, Hull etc will keep turning out when it becomes clear after 6 or 7 weeks that their games are effectively a series of dead rubbers. Maybe we need more cup competitions? Same applies to aspirant Championship clubs.

We've seen many cases of SL clubs acting like a cartel. It's already been admitted that the 12 team comp won't be expanded unless the TV money increases (but no actual agreed figure of by how much I notice - how convenient). We saw in 2013 how clubs voted to share out the Bulls TV money amongst themselves which effectively made Omar Khan's Bulls doomed from the start. For me expansion of the competition is really important. Clubs in the championship need to have some genuine chance of getting into the top flight or otherwise people at some clubs will lose interest.

Statistics: Posted by Bullseye — Tue Oct 29, 2024 11:55 am — Replies 46 — Views 7394

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