Leigh Leopards owner makes bold Hull FC IMG prediction as Super League rival praised

Leigh Leopards owner Derek Beaumont has once again lashed out at Hull FC and the way they have operated under IMG: and insists they will not secure Grade A status next week.

Beaumont and Hull have had a public rivalry for the majority of this year. The Leigh owner has consistently hit out at the way the Black and Whites have done their business knowing they are safe from relegation – and even stated last month he would ‘legally fight’ for the club to be relegated from Super League if they finished bottom.

However, Hull ultimately finished 11th ahead of London Broncos – but Beaumont has once again taken aim at the club saying he believes that they would have operated completely differently had relegation been on the line this season.

And he said he feels they will lose the Grade A status they secured last season.

Beaumont told the Super League Raw YouTube channel: “There’s no way if IMG weren’t involved you’d have seen what you got served up from Hull FC. There’s not a cat in hell’s chance that Adam (Pearson, Hull FC owner) would’ve got rid of all of those players and saved his money, banked it and not really cared about what the season was.

“That was because they were just about getting Grade A, which I don’t think they’ll have when the scores come out.

“I think they’ll be safe, but I don’t think it’ll be an A, because they were like .05 over it (the threshold), and just the position in the league will see them drop.

“That’s an advert of why you cannot have a competition where your on-field performance counts for so little.”

However, one club Beaumont did praise for the way they have applied themselves under IMG’s plans is Castleford Tigers: who look set for a big score increase next Wednesday when the gradings are revealed.

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He even suggested the Tigers will secure the highest grading of A.

Beaumont said: “I don’t know anybody else’s score, but I’m going to predict something here that might surprise some people.

“I think Castleford will just about get an A (grade from IMG). You might be saying, ‘you’ve got to be absolutely crazy saying that with their stadium being an older stadium’.

“They’ve brought in LEDs round the sides of the pitch, they’ve made more seats under cover, they’ve got a guy who’s come in who’s got money (Martin Jepson) who has tailored and chopped his financial investment to suit their maximum score, like I’ve done.

“I think that is a strong advert for how IMG has improved the sport. They fought tooth and nail and never gave up (in the season) because they knew that every single microscopic point was relevant.”

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