One week before the disclosure of the scores which will be awarded to the 35 Super League and Championship clubs, the questions are enormous and real surprises cannot be ruled out. The possibility of seeing Toulouse return to the elite of Rugby League and the Catalan Dragons holds up.
The 2024 Super League has just awarded its laurels by crowning Wigan for the second consecutive year and this time against the Robins of Hull KR (9-2). Time for the off-season and the next competition which will begin on the weekend of February 13 to 16, 2025, but with 12 or 14 teams? Difficult, given the economic context, to go from twelve to fourteen clubs which will therefore become franchisees.
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This year, the Super League is innovating, discarding the system of ups and downs, as has been the case for many seasons. The 35 clubs are now waiting for the famous notes from the sports marketing agency, IMG (International Management Group), which has been evaluating them for two years now. Remember that all clubs had until September 23 to send the files, around the five areas which allow IMG to define the ratings, according to the fan base (25%), performances (25%), finances ( 25%), the stadium (15%) and the catchment area (10%). Grades ranging from A to C will be given and the best scored will participate in the next SL. There is no doubt that the Catalans, rated 16.73/20 (grade A), last year will be one of them. But the question is real for Toulouse Olympique, which obtained the 10th score (12.97), ahead of the Super League clubs of Leigh, Castleford and London and ahead of Wakefield in October 2023.
In the event of victory in the final, the TO is likely to return to the Super League
The TO has just struck hard by qualifying for the Championship final which will take place on Saturday (8 p.m.) in Wakefield. The Olympians eliminated Bradford (21-20). A victory in the final would offer them bonus points for the overall score (0.25 points). And that can make all the difference in the record of a club which is full of points, in its catchment area and which is 2 points in relation to attendances (more than 3,000 spectators on average over the last three seasons) . To be at 2.5 points, you need more than 7,000 spectators, which is the case for the Catalan Dragons.
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Financially, the TO’s travel cost rises to 500,000 euros between their trips and those of their opponents in 2024 and it will not be more important in SL 2025. Except that the current TV rights for Championship show 200,000 euros and they are of 1.5 million in SL. Today, an external auditor studies and verifies the files of the 35 clubs. The return will be made on Tuesday October 22 to the clubs and made official the next day. If the case of the London Broncos seems sealed, Wakefield believes in his chances of returning to the high level. No guarantee either. But what about Castleford and Huddersfield? The Giants (13.49) and Castleford (12.16) have not had convincing results in 2024. The attendance at Huddersfield remains catastrophic and the dilapidated Castleford stadium walks on a very sensitive nerve. If Leigh (12.45) will double the TO thanks to its attendances, its results and the development of its communication media, Castleford and Huddersfield have reason to worry. Which would look like an earthquake, if the TO takes the place of the Giants, historic cradle of the RFL and owned by Ken Davy, already fierce opponent of the presence of the Catalan Dragons in the Super League. What will happen if he gets beaten to the post by a second French club?
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Toulouse tasted the Super League in 2022, before finishing last and coming back down, not without two “derbies” against the Catalan Dragons which brought together 8,922 people in Perpignan and especially 9,168 in Toulouse, doubling their average number of supporters. The next Super League car will allow the lucky ones to see things more clearly and to no longer play with the fear of the descent, preparing for the future. And this is precisely the future of the competition which is being played out on English territory, which is rather conservative, but which displays its ambitions for development and expansion. More than a week to wait, knowing that the future of the XIII of France is also being played out at this level and this possibility of finding two French clubs at the highest European level.
