There's been a few comments lately about how we might end up going part-time if (as we surely will) end up in League 1 next season.

Even if we somehow get a reprieve through a re-structure there is an argument that says that we could get better players by going part-time, since there are many players at our level who don't want to go full-time (for work reasons) who are quite evidently better than what we have now. This season would seem to point to that!

What's the point of being full-time if the only players we can afford are people who no other team would ever want?

Or are you one of those who think going part-time crosses the rubicon? It's a step onto a slippery slope from which we will never recover. It means perpetually slumming around the bottom division with 'crowds of less than 1000' and all that...

Vote and discuss...

Totally agree with the possibility of better players. Ultimately depends on the outcome of the season. All if's and but's but either way I agree with the possibility of a dual FT/PT squad. Imagine being actually able to sign championship hardened players who could possibly propel us up the league. I'm sure many championship players if they could keep their work commitments outside would see a move to the Bulls as a good career move. To be in the market for top end champipnship players would definitely help our chances

If we drop down then a P/T set up would suit best because as you say we could get better players. However if we stay up then we should stay FT. This is dependant on the current playoffs being the only way of promotion. I think it was shown last year that when you come up against SL teams you have to have players that have trained FT. This years squad should not be used as a benchmark for any argument of this.

How can you reconcile a P/T structure with an academy and a Reserve side? All of which have been alluded to for next season. Beginning of the end for a potential push for SL and 'back where we belong'

Run a hybrid system so you get best of both..

I'm struggling to give two sheets any more if I'm honest. There isn't an option for that though.

I am under no illusion that there is any prospect at all as things are of a serious challenge for SL.

For the foreseeable, it is all about first, survival, which I don't take for granted. Then, stabilisation.

If asked to speculate about some possible future scenario where we were still in existence, and wanted to try for SL, then basically we would need to "do a Leigh" and get a strong squad of players with SL capability playing full time. That will never happen unless some serious financial backing comes in from somewhere. Which is what we've been daydreaming of since forever.

For now, in our situation, it does seem to me reasonable that you might get some P/T players who would be better than other F/T availables and so a mix seems sensible.

Part time Bradford will be a big draw for the better part time players, full time they will be no draw for any decent full time players unless you want to pay them a stack load of money and we all know what happens in that situation.

Would we really be that big of a draw though? Why? If we go P/T then we're on a level with every other P/T team in the championship as far as I'm concerned. Our history is just that, and counts for nothing anymore. A P/T team is never getting promoted so they wouldn't be signing with us to try and further their careers.
You might say they would join us to play in front of a home crowd that is larger than most in this league, but who's to say what our attendances would drop to if we ceased to be a full time club? For many that might be the sign that the glory days are gone for good and they'll just pack it in.

From comments elsewhere it is clear that there is a long term plan to hold on to academy players that will be supplemented by appropriate experienced players. if this means including part timers in the short term, so be it.

The club is between a rock and a hard place here.

On the one hand, if we go part time, that’s even more die hards done with the club for good. Also – working on the assumption we go part time in League 1 rather being saved in a 14 team second tier – it isn’t a temporary measure. Even if we get promoted year one, it’s unlikely we’d switch back to full time – it would be a few more years at least of part time in the Championship unless we get investment.

On the other hand – the fact that we have been told the new club have struggled to recruit due to our recent past history is about the most damning thing that has come out recently. I cannot see, without a cash injection, how we are going to attract full time players to give up chances at clubs in much better positions than us. Let’s face it our full time recruitment has been sloppy to say the least when we had the pick of the bunch (relatively speaking) and a bit of cash the first year in this division (again, in comparison to the rest of the league).

It comes down to the same old story, there’s no fix here without the dosh. I can’t see us going any other way than part time in all honesty because if it doesn’t happen now, it will at some point. Even a fudge of Full and Part Time is essentially Part Time by stealth - although it seems the most likely option to "please" most people in reality.

On that would it not be easy for the club to say we are running a full time squad. But if a good championship player becomes available who wants to stay part time we will accommodate them? That way it is seen as a full time operation

Trying to run a hybrid full time/part time set up would be even worse than simply staying full time. At least full time all your players would be training together. A combination and you end up paying the worst available full time players available money for pretty much been stood around doing nothing(unless you want to count community work but its still going to be anything but training for reasons someone will work out) but then you will also not attract the better part time players because they are not stupid and will recognise the quality of the full time players. It really is one or the other and history does suggest that Bradford can not sustain a full time squad of any quality at the moment.

I remember someone from the Sheffield Eagles BOD speaking at The Shay last season when we played them in the 8's - he said they struggled to attract players at Championship level to go full time as they were A) Not willing to drop down from Super League or B) they had jobs / businesses outside of RL that they didn't want to give up and go full time.

I think the experience of Sheffield is instructive. When they went full-time a whole bunch of their better players left and they were left with a worse team than before - going from a Top 4 finish to lower half of the table last season.

That's backed up with our experience this season. No money to attract decent full-time players, and good Championship players quite understandably unwilling to sacrifice a career or business to take a punt with a club who, let's face it, haven't got the best track record for actually paying wages (OK, previous owners, but still...)

I'm still not clear why a lot of people think being part-time is so bad? Unless we chance on a Derek Beaumont type who will throw cash at anyone to get into SL (and if that's ever going to happen I suspect it would have done by now) then it seems to me that a decent quality part-time squad is better than a squad that is getting battered every week even though we are 'full time'.