RLFANS.COM - The World's Most Popular Rugby League Website

Quote: Bullseye "Where to start Jim!

Bradford's never been a great producer of RL talent. The reasons for that are complex but you can't ignore the fact that the city has a far lower level of grassroots participation in RL than places like Leeds, Hull and Wakefield. So clubs simply do not fish from similar ponds. Bradford has never had a lot of amateur clubs and this has dropped even further in the last 20 years. So if you're looking for Bradfordians that have come through the ranks then I'd say a lot more have come through in recent years. Whitehead, Bateman the Pryces and Ethan Ryan being the best examples. They've come from the only decent amateur clubs in the city. Before them you're looking at Brian Noble and Keith Mumby!

Players so not simply "get picked up" by other clubs. A lot fall through the net. Like young Bentley who wasn't wanted by anyone - he was one of the only players left after we went into liquidation after the squad was picked over by others - he thrived and was picked up later by Saints after we brought him on.

A lot has to be said for having a decent system in place. Leeds had/have one. We used to and that meant young players reached their potential. The Bradford system brought through dozens of SL and international players. That they brought a lot through despite being skint should be applauded. You can't dismiss that and say it didn't matter because someone else would've done the same. I see plenty of other clubs with academies who haven't despite having more money to spend.

As for the fanbase not being amazing that's a laugh. Every club would see its fanbase drop if it had gone through what we've been through. That includes Leeds who I remember playing in front of crowds of 4 and 5k in the mid 80s and you were still in the top division.

I agree with Exeter Rhino that the board stuck with McNamara far too long. He brought through the youngsters like Whitehead and Donaldson but it was too late. He also made some absolutely awful recruitment (Sheriffe, Worrincy etc). Basically we served a purpose for him to learn how to coach. When Potter came in it took a season to turn us around and when it did it was too late which was unfortunate because I think if he'd been appointed a year earlier we'd have avoided the drop.

Anyway back to now - it's good to see we're still disliked by some as I'd rather that than be seen as an irrelevance. Those derbies in the late 90s and early 00s are one of the things the game misses. We're unlikely to be back anytime soon while we have big Nigel in charge but one can dream. If you look at our history in the context of the last 100 years we do seem to go from boom to bust with only three periods of proper success and a lot of bust in between. By my reckoning we'll be back in around 2045 That's a good post mate thanks.

I'm sure the reasons for not producing RL talent are complex, but that low level grassroots participation is significant IMO. It's not like the club hasn't had time or runs on the board of success over the years.

With the ponds, you are kind of agreeing with the point I made - Bradford don't seem to have (for various reasons) established much of a native Bradfordian pond, and so they've been picking up players in exactly the same other locations as other clubs squabble over. My point is then: if they were promoted back to SL, how does that improve the player development pool of the whole comp? That's assuming new player identification and development is a priority, which I strongly believe it is.

Re. Bentley, are you sure a Dewsbury, York, Featherstone wouldn't have taken him if Bradford hadn't? Plus, if Bradford were a SL side at the time they might not have initially taken him either, it probably needed to be a Champ club given where he was in his career at the time.

Not saying Bradford haven't done a good job once they got him, I'm sure they did.

Most players leaving Bradford seem to have good things to say about it as a club, and we wouldn't be sending three of our lads there if we thought it wouldn't be a good environment.

Fanbase: yes they attracted lots when they were tonking everyone by 30 points each game. Their crowds didn't hold up great when success went though and whereas I'm sure they're one of the better supported Champ clubs, would all those old fans return if Bulls were in SL again? And do they have better prospects of support now than York, Halifax etc.? Honestly I think the club did a great job in the Summer era as a marketing exercise, but too many of those fans were only there for the success and it showed when the bad times came again.

Maybe they are a sleeping giant in the Champ but the club has been run unsustainably for a long time now, and you have to compare what Bulls would bring against other aspiring clubs. Would Bradford be in my top 14 clubs if I was giving out licenses? Maybe, but certainly not a shoe-in for me.