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London Broncos must wait to discover their Super League fate after failing to muscle in on a top 14 place in the 2026 IMG Gradings released on Thursday.
Introduced in 2023, the Gradings rank clubs on categories including performance, facilities and finance, and are used to determine the composition of the following season’s top flight.
Current Super League clubs sit safely in the top 14 positions with London, who coasted to victory in the Championship last season, ranking 16th behind fellow second-tier club Barrow.
However, all is not lost for London, with Super League set to accommodate them via a voluntary expansion to 15 clubs next season, under the terms of an impending investment deal with Australia’s NRL.
Such an expansion would be separate from the Grading process, and must be confirmed by RFL officials then voted on by top-flight clubs. A unanimous verdict could expedite the process and confirm London’s promotion by early next month.
The NRL deal is widely expected to render the Gradings system obsolete, at least in regard to determining the make-up of future Super League seasons, with questions over IMG’s continued involvement.
Grand Final winners Wakefield, who ranked 11th in the inaugural Gradings in 2023, rose to the top the standings with a score of 17.85 out of a possible 20, making them a Grade A club for the first time.
Wakefield ranked above Leeds, on 17.03 points, Grand Final runners-up Warrington on 16.72, and Wigan on 16.46. Four more clubs – Hull KR, Leigh, St Helens and Castleford – preserved their Grade A status.
Catalans Dragons and Hull FC both lost Grade A status – which guarantees immunity from relegation – after poor seasons on the field. York are the lowest ranked Super League club on 13.24, still comfortably ahead of 15th placed Barrow, on 9.85, and London on 9.77.
New RFL chief executive Ian Nolan said: “Wakefield Trinity’s rise to the top of 2026 Club Grading rankings is a fascinating story for rugby league, and a strong example of how sustained progress on and off the field can be recognised through the grading framework.”
PA
