Rugby league clubs will debate a proposal on Wednesday that could fundamentally change the way Super League entry is determined under IMG’s scoring system.

THE Rugby League The board will meet at Salford Community Stadium to discuss a proposal tabled by the Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams.

They suggested that the scoring system be changed to allow the winner of the Championship Grand Final to be promoted to the Super League regardless of their score: provided they are a B grade club. They would either replace the lowest ranked B grade team in the Super League or allow for an expansion of teams into the Super League if all 12 clubs were A grade.

Here’s what you need to know about the vote — including possible pre-meeting sentiment about the proposal, IMG’s position and what it would take for it to be approved.

How will the vote take place?

The Council is made up of all professional clubs from Super League, Championship and Ligue 1 with the exception of the Catalan Dragons and Toulouse Olympique. There are also seven community game representatives who get a vote: but this is where things get complicated.

The 11 voting Super League clubs must collectively have a vote share equal to that of the 23 clubs in the Championship and League 1. This means that each Super League club’s vote is worth 2.09, each Championship and League team League 1 having a vote of 1.00, as well as the seven representatives of the community game.

Kevin Nicholas from Batley and Mark Sawyer from Dewsbury are expected to make a major presentation to the Council outlining why they believe change is now needed to the system.

Both men are keen to stress that although the matter would not have been an issue this year due to Wakefield Trinity’s on-field success and Grade A status, it is a situation which could cause unrest in 2025.

The proposal is an ordinary resolution, meaning a simple majority will guarantee approval. But there is a catch: Council regulations state that for a resolution to be adopted, four Super League clubs must agree.

That means Sawyer and Nicholas need to get the votes of more than a third of the Super League representation in the room.

Is this likely?

In short, not really.

A club owner said it I love rugby league this week Super League teams accepting such a proposal would be “like turkeys voting for Christmas”. Almost all of the top 12 teams are confident they can advance to Grade A status if they aren’t already there.

This would mean that if Sawyer and Nicholas’ proposal was accepted, the winner of the championship grand final would become the 13th team in the competition. At a time when the central distribution is weaker than it has been for some time, the 12 elite clubs are expected to receive a smaller share of money than they received this year.

Anyone with even a modicum of experience knowing how Super League club owners operate will know that this scenario is highly unlikely.

Large parts of football are also committed to sticking to IMG’s proposals, with a general consensus that standards are getting higher and higher, on and off the pitch. We also have the feeling that changing the key element of the system IMG introduced – and which the clubs approved less than two years ago – would be counterproductive.

However, a number of Championship and League 1 clubs are likely to support the motion. But without the support of the Super League, it won’t matter.

Does IMG have a say?

No, they are not members of the Rugby League Council and have effectively handed over management of the scoring system to RL Commercial.

But it was suggested to Love Rugby League that there would be significant frustration if the tabled proposals were approved given the way clubs voted for the system in 2023.

Whether that will happen remains to be seen, but Wednesday is shaping up to be an exciting day.

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