Now that the 2025 season is done and dusted, we can turn our attention to what the Betfred Super League will look like in 2026, starting with today’s release of the 2025 IMG rankings. While one new face has been confirmed for Super League for next season, we await the independent panels decision on the two other possible teams to join the Bradford Bulls in making the step up in 2026¹.

Let’s get the big news out of the way first then, yes, the Bradford Bulls will return to the Super League next year for the first time since 2014. The West Yorkshire outfit claimed tenth spot in the overall rankings, ranking above current top flight outfits Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers to stake their claim to a place at the top table once again. There will (understandably) be much discussion over the decision to elevate Bradford in the coming weeks and months, and indeed there has been over the past few days, when the news of their promotion was the worst kept secret in the sport.

Looking further up the rankings, we see that nine clubs attained an ‘A’ grade for this year, with Super League champions Hull KR leading the pack with a record 17.85 out of a possible 20. In good news for their nearest neighbours, Hull FC managed to regain the ‘A’ grade they lost last year by amassing 15.06 points, making them the ninth, and last, club on the rankings to achieve this grade. The two Hull clubs are joined by Leeds Rhinos, St Helens, Wigan Warriors, Leigh Leopards, Warrington Wolves, Catalans Dragons, and Wakefield Trinity in being judged as ‘A’ grade clubs, and therefore will be exempt from relegation.

Casting our eyes to the lower parts of the top twelve, along with new-boys Bradford Bulls, Castleford Tigers fall from Grade ‘A’ to Grade ‘B’ to move closer to a perilous position, looking over their shoulder at the chasing pack, as well as Huddersfield Giants, who remain a grade ‘B’ club, and move down a place, from eleventh to twelfth. Of course, this doesn’t put either club in immediate danger, given Super League’s apparent expansion to fourteen clubs, but both teams slide in the rankings will surely be cause for concern.

Just below the top twelve sit Toulouse in 13th, and York Knights in 14th, with 13.25 and 13.04 points respectively. Both teams are considered front runners for promotion via the panel, as are the London Broncos, who sit in 16th, dropping two places from 2024. This will, of course, be no obstacle in their quest for promotion if the appointed panel decide to give them the nod, but whichever team misses out out of either York or Toulouse will have every right to feel aggrieved that a team that finished below them in both the IMG rankings and the Championship table (by quite a margin in the latter case) could be promoted ahead of them.

In a somewhat damning sign of the times, three teams with ‘B’ licenses have HMRC wind-up petitions against them, which could retroactively affect their ranking depending on the outcome of those cases. Salford Red Devils, whose slide out of the Super League was inevitable, come in at 15th after their dreadful season on and off the pitch, Featherstone Rovers, whose off-field leadership team has been crumbling in recent weeks, are two places behind in 17th, and finally, Halifax Panthers feature all the way down in 22nd.

Other interesting developments further down the rankings include Batley’s ascent to 21st, following them missing out on the ranking deadline last year, Goole Vikings ranking above both North Wales Crusaders (who are the lowest graded team despite winning League One) and Midlands Hurricanes, and Keighley Cougars and Newcastle Thunder both not receiving rankings after failing to submit their data.

While we await for the decision of the panel to be released tomorrow, discourse around the IMG rankings is inevitable, especially surrounding Bradford Bulls ascent to the Super League ahead of both Toulouse and York. Many will argue (in my opinion, correctly) that the Bulls were not deserving of promotion ahead of the two aforementioned teams above them, not to mention the state of Odsal stadium, which has been out-dated and in need to renovation for years, questions must be asked as to why a team that has finished third in each of the previous three seasons can possibly be ranked tenth in this ranking. Much more pointed queries will also be made of the Bulls’ connection to new RFL Senior Executive Director (and chair of RFL Commercial) Nigel Wood. Not to give these theories any credence, but in this situation, those in charge are hardly helping their cause.

Now all eyes fall on Lord Caine and his panel’s decision on which clubs will join the Super League. There are sure to be many questions left to pose over the coming weeks around the entire process of making up this 14-team Super League, and practically the only thing that is guaranteed is that their choices will be controversial to some degree. There is no way this could end in a way that pleases everyone, and what makes it all the more baffling is that the RFL has entered this cul-de-sac of logic of its own accord. One thing is for certain; we’re in for an interesting few days.

Written by Nathan Major (Site editor & Hull KR fan)

1. There will be coverage of the panels decision tomorrow on Gerrim Onside ↩︎