Clubs prepare for promotion vote as likely outcome and voting rules revealed

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

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

They have suggested the gradings system is altered to allow the winner of the Championship Grand Final to be promoted to Super League irrespective of their score: so long as they are a Grade B club. They would replace either the lowest-ranked Grade B team in Super League, or permit an expansion in teams to Super League should all 12 clubs be Grade A.

Here is what you need to know on the vote – including the possible feeling going into the meeting about the proposal, IMG’s stance and what it would take for it to be approved.

How will the voting work?

The Council meeting is made up of every professional club in Super League, Championship and League 1 minus Catalans Dragons and Toulouse Olympique. There are also seven representatives from the community game who get a vote: but this is where things get complex.

The 11 voting Super League clubs must have an equal voting share collectively as the 23 clubs in Championship and League 1. That means every Super League club’s vote is worth 2.09, with every Championship and League 1 team having a vote of 1.00, along with the seven community game representatives.

Batley’s Kevin Nicholas and Dewsbury’s Mark Sawyer are expected to make a significant presentation to Council underlining why they believe change is now necessary to the system.

The pair are keen to point out that while the matter would have not been an issue this year due to Wakefield Trinity’s on-field success and their Grade A status, it is a situation that could cause unrest in 2025.

The proposal is an ordinary resolution – meaning that a simple majority will secure its approval. But there is a catch: the Council rules state that for any resolution to pass, four Super League clubs must agree.

That means that Sawyer and Nicholas have to secure votes from over a third of the Super League representation in the room.

Is that likely?

In short, not really.

One club owner put it to Love Rugby League this week that Super League teams agreeing to such a proposal would be “like turkeys voting for Christmas”. Almost all 12 top-flight teams are confident they can push towards Grade A status if they are not there already.

That would mean that if Sawyer and Nicholas’ proposal went through, the winner of the Championship Grand Final would become the 13th team in the competition. At a time when central distribution is lower than it has been for some time, it would result in all 12 elite clubs having to take a lower share of money than they have this year.

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

There is also a commitment from large swathes of the game to stick with IMG’s proposals, with the general consensus that standards are being driven higher both on and off the field. There is also a feeling that changing the key component on the system IMG introduced – and which clubs approved less than two years ago – would be counter-productive.

However, a number of Championship and League 1 clubs are likely to support the motion. But without Super League support, it will be immaterial.

Do IMG get a say?

No. They are not members of the Rugby League Council and have effectively handed running of the gradings system over to RL Commercial.

But it has been suggested to Love Rugby League that there would be great frustration if the proposals tabled were approved given how clubs voted for the system in 2023.

It remains to be seen whether that will happen, but Wednesday promises to be a fascinating day.

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