Huddersfield’s IMG position clear as relegation threat addressed

Huddersfield Giants have no fears that they could become vulnerable in the IMG gradings model this season – with full confidence they will be a Super League club in 2027.

That is the view of the club’s director for change, Ralph Rimmer – who has told Love Rugby League there are ‘no worries’ they will regress in the gradings this year.

Huddersfield have been widely assumed to be the top-flight club under most threat from the looming presence of London Broncos’ inevitable return to Super League.

They are bottom of the table as the midway point in the season approaches but the prospect of them being ejected via the gradings metric is unlikely, according to Rimmer.

‘We’ll go forward”

Rimmer, who has been tasked with delivering a new stadium for the club by 2030 as well as transforming their on-field fortunes, has promised Giants supporters that they are under no threat about possibly dropping into the Championship with the system in its current format.

Huddersfield were ranked 12th last year with a score of 14.65, a slight increase on their score of 14.48 in the previous year’s rankings and gradings.

Rimmer said: “We were 12th and I suspect we’ll go forward through various elements of that – so there’s no real worries there at all.”

How Huddersfield’s IMG score could change

That will be welcome news for Huddersfield supporters – but how could their IMG score change?

One area the club look to be in jeopardy of a possible drop is in the performance aspect. That has been tightened up to represent the last two years of results, rather than three years – which does not help the Giants’ own score.

Huddersfield came 10th in the performance aspect of things last year but that seems certain to drop. They will only have a 10th placed finish from last season and wherever they finish this year factored into their score. With the Giants currently 14th and adrift at the bottom of the league, that would hint at a possible drop in that regard.

But the club are confident they will have done enough in other areas to ensure they are not sat outside the top 15 in the table across all the pillars.