We really are up S**t creek without a paddle if we hoping for a fair grading from the RFL and there puppies at IMG. What is the point of me travelling from Scarborough tomorrow if the BOD and Coach have already surrendered in the hope of IMG points for cleaning the bogs? I feel this is mischief making by Sam Cook (ex writer for The Leeds Press, acting as their Leeds Rhinos editor) but the rest of RL will fall for it especially our unwashed friends over the hill. If we finish bottom through this madness I do not want Superleague by default. The sport ceases to be a competetive sport at the end of this season if not sooner I will sadly confirm that this is my last season paying to watch a live game CTID although the game beat me to the grave https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/no-need-for-us-to-panic-img-saving-castleford-tigers-from-relegation-fears-89534/?fbclid=IwAR2nAvr08XF-CBdwXWhlckBPiZ7Pkg0Kf1IutkdV042T78M2uZ_GOGyezBs_aem_AX9HdTg8bMvdrY1qK9Jku9yUt9t4YV1vhaUlsPFPhFjgM7FFOquyjG-rAS3i5Ovbp2195yo0ICc-dVKamfptU6xh

I could argue the piece is a little disingenuous but I do take the point about this season being, seemingly, pointless. The club have failed to sufficiently upgrade/update the stadium and provide facilities that would treat the fans with little more respect. Whilst the IMG system may seem the catalyst, improvements were/are long overdue. At some stage, the Club would’ve needed to take a hit with the on-field aspects and concentrate on the off. I’m taking the view that we are lucky that this will now not impede our progress by seeing us demoted. I am, however, also cautious about the likely success of our development, simply because we’ve heard it all before. Moving forward, there has been soundings about future signings and strengthening the squad next season and this may well see us raise our game on the field. Either way, the game will still be there to be enjoyed and the team in our hearts should be around to raise our spirits and break our hearts in equal measure.

Agree we are deluded. No way are we going to get a top 12 or 14 score by the end of the season. We will be relegated at the end of the season either by performance or by the IMG ratings. I could take relegation on performance as we would deserve it, I could not accept relegation based on IMG ratings, but that will be what will happen.

FlatCapper Couldn’t agree more, eloquent and well reasoned. Perhaps I’m gullible regarding IMG and the RFL that remains to be seen, I’ve no time for conspiracy theories regarding Cas. If we continue on the trajectory we are on I firmly believe we will be in Super League next season,of course it’s sad we’ve had to forsake on field for off but it was sorely needed as was the squad rebuild. In sixty years watching Cas I have only ever watched one game from the Princess Street stand but I fully expect to have my ample backside parked in one for the Saints game. #COYF

I’ll put on here what i wrote on the other forum given it’ seems relevent to this thread….. The fact we are in this position is entirely of our own doing. We have done NOTHING to the ground for years despite knowing full well it didn’t meet minimum standards, preferring to sit back and hope a new one fell into our lap, even when these schemes quite obviously had fallen by the wayside. The RFL gave us special despensation for years (along with Wakey) to remain in super league based on promises that we never fulfilled. If they wanted us out then they had every right and opportunitty to do so which kinds of blows the conspiracy theories out of the water. Now though the landscape has changed and the IMG system is in place those at the top of the club, the ones who have been sat on their hands, are now in panic mode and having to spend momey on a temporary bodge job to salvage our super league lives. The money for this has to come from somewhere and the only place available short term is the playing budget. Yes during that time the product on the pitch will suffer but without that sacrifice for a year then it is certain relegation and given the level of debt the club carries the result of that is not worth even considering. We are fortunate that the ground is able to be tweaked to gain us extra points as if the extra seats couldn’t be added to to the princess street stand, the TV gantry extended, the floodlights have extra capacity to be able to meet minimum standards, etc then we’d be stuffed. But they can be so doing it is a no brainer. It is what will save us. Taking our bat & ball home now would be the absolute worst thing we could do. Whether we agree with the way things have been run or not and whether we like the IMG sytem or not (and for the record i don’t particularly like either!) it is what it is and the club needs us now more than ever. If i see a team of what is mainly young blokes busting a gut for us then i’m willing to put my money where my mouth is and i’ll get behind them because thats what Cas fans do. We ain’t born with silver spoons in our gobs, we ride it out when the going gets tough and enjoy the good times when they come along. If we want Jepson to bring new investors along then we need to show why we deserve it, show them this clubs potential, show the passion behind it. I’ve seen us at wembley, i’ve seen us in a grand final, i’ve seen us pump Wigan to win a trophy. But i’ve also seen us relegated twice. It’s sport, it has ups and downs. The full ground redevelopment will give us the wherewithal to compete at the right end of the table again but until then we have to remain in the fight to make it to that point. If that means a bit of short term pain for long term gain so be it, needs must. It might not always be easy to take but it really is a necessity. Rant over! It was quite cathartic actually!

Deluded Tigers

Hepworth

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

pirate

TheFirm
i agree that sport has its ups and downs but superleague menbership by committee isnt sport is it.
At 67 I too have seen it all but having a season where results dont matter is a first (and a last) for me.
RL is a luxury item when you reach pension age and at the moment i am getting a bigger bang for my buck from the motorbike.
Its not just ticket price when coming from Scarbs for the games, its a bloody expensive do
I will continue my support from afar (daily draw , merch etc) but until games start to matter again , my brass is staying in my pocket

CTID

Maturecasfan

pirate
Don’t blame you pirate.
I’m glad to say I can’t go now anyway because I can’t stand due to me old bloody knees. I’m 68.
I did go to the hudds game only cos it was a freebie.
But struggled to walk back down lane.
So my days of going now is more or less over.
Could be a blessing the way the whole game is now being ran. It’s a travesty.

stuey

No more live Rugby for me now either.

Once any sport decides promotion and relegation is based on other factors apart from on-field performance it is no longer a Sport. You have to have jeopardy and meaningful matches or games become pointless.

FlatCapper

I can fully understand the frustration and reluctance some Tigers fans are experiencing at the moment. For me, sport has always been a contest to see who is the better, both in a single engagement or over the course of a tournament/season of fixtures.

However, I do see the IMG ramifications as a potential positive that allows our chosen ‘champion’ to take some time to evaluate their chances and review their options. I wouldn’t expect them to complete this task with experiencing any pain.

You could claim that, due to other commitments, I’m lucky in that I am unable to attend the majority of our games but the fear of never being able to outweighs the short-term pain experienced through the TV. Due to my commitments, I’m often in the position of having to watch the recordings late night but this makes it no less of a painful exercise.

I’ll pop along for the odd home fixture and bring with me the excitement that a live game darn t’lane always has.

I dread to think how I’d feel is there was no Cas Tigers in my life, come what may.

Hepworth

While professional sportsmen take the field there will always be jeopardy in a sporting contest, I agree selecting teams on anything else other than on the field performance is wrong but that doesn’t mean on field competition will change. For god knows how long the RL have tinkered with league structures,franchising,play offs,expansionism,IMG is just the latest incarnation,is it doomed to fail? Quite possibly, but once the whistle blows in the Saints:Wigan derby for the players involved and the fans watching there will be no shortage of jeopardy.

pirate

Hepworth but the onfield competition has changed in the chase for IMG points, we could have a competetive squad if all we had to do was climb up the table, that has been sacrificed for a league by commitee.

I agree the players never take a step backwards but if they are not right for the club or good enough for S/L that will not work either

stuey

pirate

Agree Pirate. If we were not chasing IMG points by spending money on the ground improvements etc, we could spend that money on players and we would have a competitive team.

Hepworth

Sadly it only seems to have changed for us,the board chose to prioritise the chase for IMG points at the expense of the squad. The teams already with an A grade are carrying on without a care, while the teams scrabbling for the remaining spots are all putting in performances on the pitch, with one sad but notable exception. I’d agree we have players who don’t look to be Super League quality and should if possible be moved on,but it would seem our plan of chucking all our eggs in the IMG basket from a sporting perspective is failing. Time is against us,had we envisaged this happening we could perhaps have done this in a more balanced way over a longer period without it having such a catastrophic effect on our infield performances, but we didn’t. Rome burned,we fiddled and are now counting the cost. Daft thing is my heart rules my head and if we could just scrape a win somewhere…….

stuey

https://www.seriousaboutrl.com/castleford-tigers-img-forced-club-into-current-frustrating-situation-89841/

The above article confirms we have prioritised the chase for IMG points at the expense of putting a competitive team on the pitch.

RaoulDuke

stuey we know what we have to do but only part of it is in our hands.

My fear is that clubs like Castleford will be forced out. In essence they just need to add the word *permanent" to a list of things that the ground needs and we’re out. However at this time we are one of the top 12 strongest brands in the game with good support and eyes on us.

It’s interesting that clubs are fighting different points of the IMG rules.

Wigan - the postcode rules ( ie points divided by the amount of teams in postcodes, we get a third of the points due to wakey and Fev)

Kr - they are refusing to give out attendances because as they feel it’s not how well a club is doing financially but the amount through the door not spending a penny (once you get the top mark you are fine but with teams like hudds giving away tickets that count on attendance it sqews the results. Personally we should play the book, if other teams are doing it then we should)

Hepworth

RaoulDuke Dam right, we should be playing every angle we can to get the necessary points, be totally naive to think others aren’t doing the same. Must admit I have more hope since Mr Jepson came along than I did before, he’s obviously an astute businessman and we will hopefully avoid the embarrassing mistakes we made with the initial submission. Coming from someone on the board at another club,he tells me one club owner has already allocated funds for a legal challenge should IMG grading not come out in their favour,so we’re not alone in our concerns. Laugh is you have an A grade club such as Hull,guaranteed a place good facilities, good following,spending the cap and putting in dross performances. I honestly believe a vibrant Cas in Super League is a benefit not just to us and the town but to Rugby League as a whole,we have a great travelling contingent create a great atmosphere which translates on the telly. Reading other forums and other fans see our value, fingers crossed IMG will get that message.

stuey

Performance is 25% of the IMG points system. By concentrating on getting a higher score in the other criteria at the expense of on-field performances, we may end up getting a lower score for performance hence cancelling out any benefit gained.

pirate

stuey i am almost sure the performance is on the previous 3 seasons, this one not included.

RaoulDuke

stuey I think your maths is wrong if only 25% is performance then surely 75% of positive change is more?

I get your point though but it’s virtually impossible to do both unless Mr Davy wants to spaff all his money on Cas.

stuey

pirate

If that is the case, then at the end of this season, 2021 will drop off and performance points will be based on 2022, 23 & 24. We did a lot better in 2021, so our performance score will go down, whilst other clubs near us points-wise will improve.

TheFirm

Given it’s based on a 3 year average and given a couple of assumptions that…

we finish 11th this year
Wakey pick up all the points possible (so best case scenario for them)
Leigh finish as they are in 9th
Toulouse are 2nd in the championship

A quick fag packet calculation for the teams around us gives the performance scores as -

Leigh - 3.1111
Cas - 3.0369
Wakey - 2.9315
Toulouse - 2.6297

So maybe not as cut and dried as some would like to think.