Wrong. Why were the RFL surprised at the statement from the Crusaders then, if they knew they were going to fail in their bid?

Quite right. That's why I have no faith in anything the RFL come up with. Wait till you hear what their going to do with the under 18s.

Finally, honesty from you. You've finally dropped all your BS and admitted that you're only interest in this stems from bitterness and jealously.

However, you might want to try stopping confusing YOUR OPINION for actual FACTS.

The RFL could guarantee that the new company would be eligible to carry on the franchise. What they couldn't do to Wakey was guarantee a franchise in June, and what they can't do is guarantee a franchise for the Bulls in 2014. But they can say that the new company/club can carry on the Bradford franchise, given that it is in the same city, playing out of the same ground, and probably called the same and wearing the same colours.

The fact that the new bidders seem more bothered about getting Odsal than getting the club, I wouldn't touch them with a stick. As much as the RFL is aiming for a more diverse audience, and so it should, the Asian community amongst the Bulls fans are grossly unrepresented to the point of not being there at all, and so to suggest that the consortium has a sudden interest in the Bulls is laughable. To say that the consortium has a sudden interest in Odsal is a different thing.

Ok,heres my take on this,and il be as brief as possible,because this bradford thing is beginning to bore me,the bradford club over the years must have been spending over there budget, (no ) therefore as the seasons rolled by and they became less successful,attendances dropped,but they still continued to pay players top dollar,someone knew this was coming,but due to ignorance continued regardless,bottom line is bradford bulls must pay the full penalty for this,and bow out of super league,until they get there house in order,i really do feel for the bradford supporters,but im sure they will come back a stronger club for it.

Although much effort is going into trying to save the Bulls, and rightly so, all of the noises being made about the consortium seem to be about getting hold of Odsal on the cheap aith nothing whatsoever being mentioned about the rugby league club.
Is this misunderstanding on my part or are they truly concerned about Bradford Bulls.

I think its likely to be more of an issue as to whether the RFL will guarantee the Bulls a franchise in 2013.

Nigel Woods said that if the existing club is liquidated and a new club is formed it could still remain in SL for the rest of this season, but the situation would be reviewed at the end of the season. I doubt that any new investors would take on the club if it is possible that the club would lose its license in 4 months time.

..but the fella most def did not meltdown:

I think this is the best solution, if they don't liquidate. If they do, they should go into championship 1.

personally think this should be case IF we do liqudate. But if a newco buys us from admin withoutn us being liquidated and pays off percentage of debts then why should we be punished heavier than wakey or crusaders who did exactly the same thing and only got a points deduction?.

Because franchising has been in place a number of years now, It is no longer in its infancy and should be used as what it was designed for, To make those clubs outside super league build correctly for entry into SL, Nigel Wood said at the last round of franchising that those clubs who did not deliver upon its promises could be removed at any time and replaced by another club. Whether this was due to wakefield and castlefords long standing ground situation or not is up to us to decipher, However this could also mean any club who has not fullfilled its licence application business plan etc, again open to interpretation. What i do know is that to have a closed shop whilst clubs keep going to the wall is making the game look more and more stupid year on year, I'm cant see into the future, perhaps putting another club up in bradford place would all go tits up, but surely it should be seen to follow through on what they are telling people and the media and follow through on something for once to gain some respect back to the governing body of our sport.

Now before some of you give it .....all this from a fax fan, I am not saying it should be Halifax, However it should certainly be one either Halifax, Fev, Toulouse, Whoever the RFL decide, but it sould be someone, Halifax have made a PROFIT this year and i am sure Fev will also post a profit and if they dont it will be down to investing in their ground and infrastructure, not due to overspending and bad business practise.

so a whole year later from wakeys admin makes all the difference and fax being a possible beneficiary is just a happy coincidence.......................

Cas Tigers fan.
Bulls should drop down to Championship One.
P & R should be re-introduced in 2013 (1 up/1 down) - Bulls will be back to SL for 2014.
Franchising to be scrapped - its failed.

Fev are been pumped with money at the moment - and their strategy to get to SL will be proven wrong.

The problem is that there is such a chasm between SL and NL1 that building fior SL can only be done up to a point. There is absolutely no guarantee that a club that is successful in NL1 will make the transition to become a successful SL club. The promted club has to make so many fundamental changes to its organisation, personnel and financial structure on becoming a SL club that its previous record as a well run NL club is almost irrelevant.

So F"ck em. leave em to rot in the lower league and continue to let SL club after SL club go to the wall!!!!

NL1 has not been around for years and it is the Championship, there is that big a gulf now that championship teams are running the SL clubs close or in some cases beating them on the pitch with a Salary cap of £300k and part time players.

OK then, So a full 4 years into licensing that was designed to make clubs stronger and to compete with the NRL we have Crusaders bust and out, Wakefield saved from the brink and in administation and the once Giants Bradford bulls teetering on the edge, Fax have applied for the last 2 rounds and will wait their turn, can the same be said for the other clubs, Fax were once in the mire, and ever since have rebuilt and come back stronger, Been in 4 finals in 3 years and possibly more to come this year, Have the stadium which some SL clubs envy, but lets not let the facts get in the way, Fev are dominating as well at the moment and plans for stadium and are awaiting planning permision which will be through in the next 2 months, Not 4 years + like some.

I can see both sides of the argument with regards to the franchise system.

However, the reason for clubs struggling at the moment is less to do with that, and more to do with the state of the economy in the country. People have less (or no) cash at the moment so leisure activities such as supporting your club take a much lower priority.

The Bulls might have kept limping along under the old regime if it hadn't been for the UK economy generally.

As for the Bulls? They'll stay in SL (if they survive), and I tend to agree with that because it is in line with other decisions made with other clubs recently. As for points deductions and when? Because I'm a Rovers supporter I can't really comment because it would be my team who would probably ensure a playoff space if it happended this season. I want us to get there on merit.

This

I dont agree that the Bulls state is due to the ecconomy.
Their turnover has been falling for many seasons and the simply haven't reduced their costs accordingly, ie player salaries.
They have contiued to spens as though they are grand final and WCC winners.
To blame the ecconomy is a poor excuse.
Regarding the franchise element, whilst I would prefer the P/R system, I dont think this is a factor at all. In actual fact it should alllow clubs to
control their budgets more easily as it takes away the need for panic buying to avoid possible relegation.

And despite all that, they submitted an application last time around that was nowhere near the required standard, which rather bears out the poster above who suggested that success in the second tier does not necessarily equate to success in SL.

But i thought that Halifax's application DID meet the required standard and that why, when Widnes were confirmed as going up, Halifax were allowed to stay in the running to be considered along side the other SL teams.

Who told you that, someone from the RFL.

Crusaders were in the mire and neither thr RFL or Cru could cover it up any longer. Wakey put in a solid bid based on a new owner and an injection of money.

Its not hard to work out.

It did, the RFL came out afterwards and said that the financial Business plan was "speculative" which is why so many fax fans are peed of with whats happening at bradford as their business plan was clearly doomed from the start and speculative yet KPMG didn't want to or didnt realise this.

It is all one big smelly mess. No wonder Richard Lewis saw the open door and Bolted

Wasn't it the RFL who told Crusaders to withdraw their bid? Not the other way round.

But it seems to me that you're confusing facts with your own opinion. Unless you've actually got both bids in front of you (and that seems unlikely) then you're in no position to comment on who's bid was stronger