{"id":112797,"date":"2026-08-28T10:09:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:09:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/112797\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T10:09:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:09:10","slug":"london-broncos-make-huge-improvements-on-key-img-metrics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/112797\/","title":{"rendered":"London Broncos make ‘huge improvements on key IMG metrics"},"content":{"rendered":"

London Broncos<\/a> have made \u2018huge improvements on key metrics\u2019 for the IMG gradings system in their bid to return to Super League, according to head coach Jason Demetriou.<\/p>\n

Despite being taken over by Australian businessman Grant Wechsel and NRL icon Darren Lockyer a few months prior, and having a clear blueprint for the capital club\u2019s development, London were denied entry into the top-flight for 2027.<\/p>\n

Instead, as Super League expanded to 14 teams, Toulouse Olympique and York Knights got the nod from an independent panel for promotion to take up the two available spaces: with Bradford Bulls also promoted via the IMG gradings system.<\/p>\n

The Broncos have gone on to dominate the Championship in 2026, but as things stand, there\u2019s no confirmation of whether they\u2019ll be allowed at the top table come next season.<\/p>\n

Regardless, they are doing their bit, in the eyes of boss Demetriou \u2013 who took charge ahead of this season.<\/p>\n

\u2018There are some key metrics that we\u2019ve had some huge improvements on\u2019<\/p>\n

London have already wrapped up the Championship League Leaders\u2019 Shield, and have an 1895 Cup final to look forward to on Bank Holiday Monday (August 31), which comes against Widnes Vikings at the Halliwell Jones Stadium in Warrington.<\/p>\n

No IMG points are up for grabs in that final, but the Broncos are well aware of where they will be able to improve their score from 12 months ago.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media earlier this week, Demetriou explained: \u201cWithout doubt, (we\u2019re in a better position this year than last).<\/p>\n

\u201cOur crowd numbers (have risen) and our social media has gone well beyond the 20 million mark now\u2026 we\u2019re hitting huge numbers in terms of that, which is going to give us improvement in our IMG marketing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a point up for grabs in winning the Championship as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are some key metrics that we\u2019ve had some huge improvements on.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously tough as a Championship side in terms of IMG, because you don\u2019t have access to the marketing and the media and all that sort of stuff to grow the game.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is more difficult financially for Championship clubs to compete with Super League clubs in that instance, and I don\u2019t think the 20-team competition has helped either this year because of the blowout scores.\u201d<\/p>\n

London have only lost one league game so far this season, and that came a few weeks ago away at Oldham. Previous to that, their only loss under Demetriou\u2019s tutelage came in the Challenge Cup Third Round at home against Super League side Bradford.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cThe Championship is about to get really interesting and really exciting, that\u2019s going to help grow the profile down South.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s obviously a plan for what happens if we don\u2019t (make it to Super League), and there isn\u2019t a plan of not being involved. I want to keep driving what we\u2019ve been doing.<\/p>\n

We came here with our eyes open and understood there\u2019s an opportunity to grow the game in the South, and invest in it to make sure we get it right.<\/p>\n

\u2018If we want to grow commercially as a product in rugby league, we have to have a presence in the biggest city in the country\u2019<\/p>\n

Demetriou \u2013 who also heads up Papua New Guinea on the international stage \u2013 had a 50% win ratio during his time in charge of NRL outfit South Sydney Rabbitohs, who he departed back in 2024.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old said: \u201cI was an advocate of not being in Super League this year for that reason (to get it right), so we can grow performances off the field to set ourselves up to hit the ground running if and when we get into Super League.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe likes of Wakefield and Leigh, in particular over the last few years\u2026 both of those teams are going to play in finals (play-offs) this year and both are pushing for top four.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt shows it can be done with the right investment and the right energy and structures. I feel like we\u2019ve got that down here in London, but at the same time, we need the game to understand that the capital needs to have a team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to grow commercially as a product in rugby league, we have to have a presence in the biggest city in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

A two-time Canada international via his heritage, Sydney-born Demetriou spent the bulk of his professional playing career in the UK \u2013 donning a shirt for Lancashire Lynx, Rochdale Hornets, Widnes and Wakefield as well as Keighley Cougars.<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cI know the Northerners don\u2019t like to hear that, and I played a lot of my footy up north!<\/p>\n

\u201cI can understand that, because there\u2019s so much of an importance on crowd numbers because of a lack of revenue in the game \u2013 but if can get the revenue up through TV and different areas, then that importance isn\u2019t as strong and growing the game becomes even more important.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if we can get it right, teams will see that.\u201d<\/p>\n

WATCH THE NEW LRL PODCAST!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"London Broncos have made \u2018huge improvements on key metrics\u2019 for the IMG gradings system in their bid to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80347,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[26],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-112797","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-london","tag-london"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117172591865944621","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112797","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=112797"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112797\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=112797"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=112797"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=112797"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}