THE promotion and relegation proposal tabled by Batley Bulldogs and Dewsbury Rams has been turned down, with the voting revealed.
The motion, put forward by Kevin Nicholas (Batley) and Mark Sawyer (Dewsbury), proposeed: “that IMG Grading is amended such that if the winner of the Championship Grand Final is a Grade B club it shall be promoted to Super League either to replace the lowest ranked Grade B club in Super League or as an additional club if all clubs in Super League are Grade A.”
The current system is that the top 12 graded clubs will make up Super League in 2026, regardless of their finishing positions in 2025.
League Express can exclusively reveal that 14 voted in favour, with 16 against and ten abstentions, meaning the current IMG structure for 2025 remains.
Nicholas previously admitted to League Express that he didn’t know if his proposal would obtain majority support at the Council meeting held today, while he also wished to clarify what the motion sought to achieve.
“I haven’t canvassed support so if it succeeds is not my main concern,” he said.
“But if it doesn’t succeed and then it all goes pear-shaped next year, I can at least say I’ve tried.
“For example, let’s imagine the Bulls beat York in the Grand Final next year, but let’s say that York and Toulouse are put into Super League instead of them (because of higher gradings).
“What a car crash that would be!
“I will clarify at the meeting that where there is reference to the lowest ranked B club it is meant as the lowest in the league table, not the lowest Grade B grading points.”
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