BY JOHN DAVIDSON
Exclusive: North West Mens League chair Stuart Prior is backing IMG’s proposals ahead of tomorrow’s RFL Council meeting.
The RFL Council meets in Huddersfield on April 19 to vote on whether to accept IMG’s club grading criteria.
Seven representatives from the British community game each get on a vote on the RFL Council, with Prior a Tier 5 representative for the North West Mens League.
Prior has told rugbyleaguehub.com Long Reads that IMG’s grading criteria has his support after the round of changes were made following consultations.
“At the end of the day I represent Community on the RFL Council, and the role of IMG is to promote the game,” he said.
“You may have seen there was a lack of community in the proposal when it first came out but there’s been a shift in that, after good consultation. I’ve been involved in rugby league for a long time and people tend to overlook the community.
“Although it’s a massive, massive part of the game. But this time people have actually sat down and listened to us. And that’s why ultimately the grading system has been changed slightly.
“So we were positive on it anyway… we know being community we’re not going to get pot loads of money shoveled out to us. We get Sport England money from the RFL from a governance point of view to help develop the sport, and that’s always put through the right channels to do that.
“So we know we get money that way, but not enough filters down to the community club. And nothing ever will – that’s just the nature of the beast – that’s in any sport, not just rugby league.
“So it was good when they sat down and said right we’re going to make this part of the grading system representative of what the community is, and that’s going to be done through development plans, via the RFL.
“They’re going to give them relevance to the points, and that’s good. That’s positive.”
IMG changed its initial grading criteria with the Catchment category renamed ‘Community’ to include points under the proposed model for clubs’ positive impact in the communities in which the sport is based and played.
That activity is now worth up to 2.5 points of the maximum 20 on offer and combines each club’s fanbase potential with a rating for their Foundation – the charitable bodies linked to clubs, which drive much of their community and participation activity.
“You’re never going to please everybody,” Prior admitted.
“There’s always going to be people who want it their way. The classic is with Keighley, they think it’s detrimental to investment coming into the club.
“But I think the way the grading systems’ done, you’re always going to have your power teams, regardless of what sport you’re in, you’re always going to have the top six teams who have got more money. But I do think it creates a great opportunity for some other clubs to actually work on their own development plans and be better.
“How can we criticise people who want you to get more bums on seats in your stadium? Ultimately, we want to make it a sport worth hundreds of millions of pounds like what the Australian game is.
“And you’ve got some teams who can’t get 500 people through the gate. At the end of the day, it is a spectator-lead sport through finances. So you have to do something that will enable them to bring people through the door, and also you need sustainability.
“You need to be operating correctly. Look what’s happening to rugby union at this moment in time. It’s fallen to pieces because the model that they brought in, which from the late 90s was always to out do the professional game, is killing them.
“The sport is not sustainable, there’s massive debts. The sport is going bust. The IMG model ensures, for me, that clubs will be run robustly.
“You’re not going to get your owner coming in and throwing £30 million in, or in rugby league £300,000 in, and expect to be winning trophies. This has to be done gradually over time.
“Once they start getting that model in and they know they can get up that ladder and get better, I think it’s positive for the sport. Some might disagree, some may not.”
Prior is pleased that IMG has listened to feedback from different elements of the sport and reacted to it.
“Originally, we were disappointed… we said to IMG you’ve got to look after your community, they’ve got to be made to be part of it,” he said.
“And when the first grading came out and it wasn’t there, there was a lot of faces on the community board that said, hang on guys. Me being one of them, showing concern to what had happened.
“But that said, they listened and they changed it. We’ve committed to a 12-year deal with IMG and they won’t get paid unless they make the sport successful.
“They’ve put their finances on the line to make it happen, they’ve done their bits and if it fails it’s at their cost, not ours.”
There will be 55 votes cast in total at the RFL Council meeting tomorrow, which includes all British Super League, Championship and League 1 clubs, along with representatives from the community game.
There has been vocal opposition to IMG’s plans from the likes of Keighley, Batley and Featherstone over the past few weeks, but it is still expected that a majority of at least 28 will vote in favour of IMG.
“One of the problems with rugby league in the UK is we’re too stuck in our ways, we don’t like change,” Prior said.
“Unfortunately, change is the only way we’re going to make the sport better. If you listen to what the Australians did in 1982 with The Invincibles, and then what they did in the 90s they had to redevelop the sport, they had mergers to make sure the sport was strong.
“They’re not afraid of change. But they also don’t have parochialism like we do. But unfortunately, the way the sport is operated today, that’s the way we have to go.
“That’s the only way we’re going to make a success of it, and there’s a lot of people resistant to change, and that’s what IMG is bringing along. I agree, we need to change to make the sport successful.”
