BRADFORD BULLS chief executive Jason Hirst has revealed he was 99.9 percent confident of a place in Super League after it was announced the competition would expand to 14 teams in 2026. The Bulls not only increased their IMG score from 12.15 to 14.81 in just one year, in doing so, they leapfrogged several teams to sit in tenth spot, rather than 16th. That meant that Bradford were ensured of a Super League spot without the need for them to go through the independent panel which eventually decided to elevate Toulouse Olympique and York Knights. “By constantly prioritising and reviewing the IMG grading criteria on a weekly basis,” Hirst told Total Rugby League. “We were always confident that due to our attention to detail, intimate understanding of the IMG grading criterial and diligent and proactive work, that we’d significantly increase our IMG score in 2025.