still deserved to be saved though IMO just as they deserved their success cos they were the best at the time - no one can take that away from them

true enough but the fans would lose out and that would be a travesty for them - I would feel the same if it was the HKR fans who were affected

SL would survive without them but a club with such a big following has to survive as it will in whichever league they finally end up in

I agree that they should survive but not in SL. Their punishment along with any other club that goes through the same problems should be expulsion from SL for at least 2 full SL franchise rounds so they can prove that they are sustainable again. This would send out a message to all clubs about spending over their means. This is where the RFL need to grow a set and stamp their authority on the game.

what you say is true but with repect, for me I would prefer to see a club either the equal or better than the resurrected Bulls take their place in SL - going for a lesser club ie a club with less potential, investment and fan base will be taking the game backwards IMO at a time when RL should be growing

I can see what the RFL are faced with - they are between a rock and a hard place and in a no-win situation as the 'Bulls for SL brigade' are as vociferous as the 'anti Bulls SL' group

The question of the Bulls participation in SL should have nothing to do with their size or perceived imprtance to the competition.
If their wrongdoing merits a relegation to a lower division then they should be relagated whether it is Bradford, Huddersfield Cas or Salford.
This is what is wrong with SL.
There shouldn't be a group of clubs who are above the game itself and the game should be brave enough to have some principals, rather than trying to contrive
some kind of elite competition.
Let the clubs play for success and ok, if there needs to be some rules to guide us then at least be brave enough to stick to them.

The question of the bulls participation in SL should rest solely on their importance to the competition and their ability to exist there. The game isnt strong enough to hinder itself by having its biggest and best playing at the lower levels. It would be akin to team GB picking some middling athletes for the olympics and leaving our best and brightest to compete in regional competitions.

SL is the showcase of the sport, it is the point at which the sport stems, it provides the money, the visibility and for the most part, they players for the sport. The championships, internationals, the amateur game are all damaged when SL is damaged. Losing Bradford damages the our marquee product. It means SL is worth less, it means fewer people will pay to see it, it will mean we have less money in the game.

To make the game the very best it can be, SL needs to be the very best it can be, it needs to have the biggest reach it can, it needs to be played by the very best players it can. As a game, we cannot afford to make our marquee product weaker to pander to some rose-tinted romanticism of some imaginary halcyon days where small pit villages and towns played in front of packed crowds as each parish put out its best forrads. The game has changed, the world has changed, losing P+R was/is a very very small price to pay.

The World has changed again - the idea of clubs walking away from debts and barely missing a step will struggle for traction in this age of austerity.
London and Crusaders (? on the latter), might have looked a promising precedent, but RL could only try HMRC's patience so many times. 'Should' is debatable. Bradford's participation in SL [idoes[/i IMO rest solely on a buyer coming forward who can reach agreement with the creditors. And that seems pretty reasonable to me.

Sorry Smokey

IMO its more akin to allowing someone who has broken the rules to compete just because thye hold a record or something, maybe like allowing someone who oversteps the mark in long jump to register a score or who someone who falsestrats to still compete. It may make for a better race, but its not right.

What you appear to be advocating, is that the big clubs should be allowed to do as they please, because they are bigger than the game itself.
Anarchy

I know exactly where you're coming from. I have been a RL supporter since my father took me as a small child but now I am just a Fax supporter. I used to go to Wembley every year, all the GB/England games and if Fax didn't have a game I would see where the nearest game was that looked tasty. Since the advent of licensing followed by continually sliding goalposts and dodgy deals done behind closed doors RL, other than that which involves Fax, is of no interest anymore.

The RFL should be very wary as, up to the start of this season, it was only Championship/1 fans who were pro p&r/anti-licensing but there now seems to be a mounting wave of dissent among SL fans.

I dont get this idea that HMRC really give a flying whatsit what league Bradford play in next year. I could understand it if this was some pre-pack with the same old faces involved, but on the basis of brand new owners with no links to the previous regime, why would HMRC care? That symbolic bloodletting would make no difference whatsoever to them.

They arent being 'conned' or having 'their patience tried' by a brand new company with no links to the previous regime, playing as Bradford Bulls in SL rather than the lower leagues.

Save your faux-outrage about the lack of Corinthian spirit in sport for someone who has forgotten Wakefield's breaking of the salary cap, the Pearson debacle, their illegal approaches to under-contract players, their playing of 15 overseas players to stay in SL at the expense of the games youngsterrs and the fact they happily gave a contract to Terry Newton or you might end up looking a bit of hypocrite.

'Bradford' havent cheated, their fans didnt, their players didnt, the coaching staff didnt. The people who did (in your very stretched meaning of cheated) arent there anymore. I dont know why you want to punish a bunch of people who did nothing for the failings of people who are no longer involved.

And im not advocating they do what they please, the people who have done wrong have been punished, they lost their business and they are out of the game, thats the important thing, it wouldnt make me happier if Bradfords players, fans and coaching staff were punished again.

it's not really a matter of past glories though the size of the Bulls as a public outfit is immense in RL terms - they are no different to any other company going bust and reopening with new investors thus saving jobs and helping to keep the economy going has to be the priority ? - it's no use to anyone if the Bulls be allowed to expire just because the people running the company were inept
It's peoples lives and livelyhoods not to mention the fans who pay their hard earned cash who are involved and it's in no ones interests to see any business venture being punished for failing for whatever reason - as the RFL have realised the Bulls are an important piece of the SL jigsaw and their demise is not in the public interest when there is no clear alternative to compensate for their relegation to the lower leagues
Let them finish their franchise period with the new owners if they are lucky enough to find some and then be judged at the next round of franchising bids