Leeds Rhinos chief talks club grading result, 'amazing' job done by Brad Arthur and Wakefield Trinity's rise

Rhinos retained second place and an A grade, despite their score falling by 0.25 points from 2025. They increased marks for performance, finance and stadium, but were down on last year in terms of fandom and community. They achieved the maximum for community, but fewer points were available in 2026.

Grand Final winners Wakefield showed the biggest improvement, increasing their score by 2.38 and climbing from eighth last year to first on the table. Assessing the latest rankings, Jones-Buchanan - who took over as chief from Gary Hetherington almost a year ago - insisted: “I am a sportsman, I am never happy with being second.

“I like being top of any list, but at the same time I understand the context of this season and I am really pleased for [Trinity owner] Matt Ellis, for Powelly [coach Daryl Powell], for Wakefield and what they’ve done. They have worked really hard and they’ve got the fruits of their labour. They have found a way to win.

“They have regenerated rugby league in Wakefield and they took a massive number of fans to the Grand Final. We all want to drive a better product, a better game and they have done an excellent job.

“As a rugby league fan I think we’ve all got to be selfless to a degree, because we all want a bigger, better game. We are Leeds Rhinos, we are always striving to be first, but at the same time we recognise that second is an exceptional position to finish in and it is reflective of all the hard work we see from our staff and players.”

This is the fourth year of club grading and Jones-Buchanan reckons the system is doing what it was designed for. “I think the IMG grading is there for a purpose, to drive a rise in tide in the league and to drive regeneration,” he said. “We’ve seen that with Hull KR and with Wakefield this year being outstanding and with what Matt Ellis has done.

“We’ve also seen it to a degree with Leigh Leopards and we’ve got a league now where - especially with the salary cap - there’s a lot more parity between the clubs. If we’re going to have a game that’s entertaining and attractive to watch, that’s what we need.”

However, he stressed: “The grading serves a purpose - and that purpose has been fulfilled - but Leeds Rhinos delivers a lot more impact in the game than what’s reflected in the grading. So do Wigan and so do other clubs.

“We don’t need a grading to inform us of that; we are just proud of who we are, the badge we wear and the service we’ve delivered for our fans. The work done right across the club has been phenomenal and the highlight, I guess, has been an uplift in performance on the field for the vast majority of the season.

“It was obviously disappointing at the back end, but I think [coach] Brad Arthur and [sporting director] Ian Blease have done an amazing job and so have the full rugby department, from youth to the first team.”