Quote red13pjb="red13pjb"While I have sympathy for anyone made redundant and the fans of the club this situation is the fault of 2 bodies of people.
1. Bradford's board
2. The RFL
All of this has one central issue; SALARY CAP! The Bradford board is to blame for continually spending up to and beyond the Cap (let us not forget that they have been caught breaking the Salary Cap twice).
The RFL are to blame for allowing them to do this with the minimum punishment along with the other clubs who have been caught and are blatently flouting the current rules without being called to task. If the sanctions for breaking the Cap had been greater, a la Melbourne Storm for example, then there would have been less temptation for Bradford to break it. The fact that the RFL allowed them to do it and win SL titles in the process and allowed other clubs to do it so that Bradford felt pressure to keep pace led to this situation arising.
Salford are continually criticised by fans both on here and at matches for not "breaking the bank" to keep players or sign more high profile players. I have it on good authority however, that we deliberately do not spend anywhere near the Salary Cap so as to avoid this kind of predicament. Now some will say (like the Bulls fan who I had a frank discussion with at our recent home game) "how many trophies have you won?" Perhaps so, but at least we still have a club to support and we can say with pride that what we do achieve we have done so without breaking the rules!
I hope a solution can be found as I don't want to see any club go out of business. However, this should serve as a warning to the powers that be that they need to be more proactive and strict with the people running our clubs to ensure that the Salary Cap does what it was inteneded to do in the first place. Prevent clubs from spending beyond their means and deliver a fairer more balance competition where all clubs have a reasonable chance of survival.'"
Well said, Pete.
I feel for the fans, and you have a fair point with regards to poor management behind the scenes coupled with poor decision-making from the RFL.
