Now this brings a whole new view on things!! Did Bradford purposely go into the season with the knowledge that they would go bust (They did budget to lose 100k a month) and that this would pull on the RFL to assist them? Rather that than do it in the close season and have to sell some of the playing staff?

Should and of the people involved in the franchise selection be accountable for the bulls faliure, either within the RFL, who had knowledge of their financial plight, or within Blake Solly, who carried out the financial checks.
Of course it may be that Blake Solly informed the RFL of the situation and perhaps they are beyond reach but..............

Perhaps at franchise adjudication time Solly was refering to Bradford when he stated that there were 'worse' applications than ours

Kerching!

It just goes to show how subjective the franchise system is. Bradford get a grade "B" license when:-

Strong financial performance: no tick - we now know for sure that they were not financially sound and a loan from the RFL of c. £700k just after franchises are awarded is clear evidence of this. (Although rumours persisted for a couple of years that they were in trouble)

Standard of ground: no tick (from me). I appreciate that Belle Vue is not considered up to standard but show me an RL fan who thinks Odsal is!!! Very exposed, poor viewing position, one main stand with a seating area. Whole place, as has been admitted by prior management is in need of major upkeep and renovation.

Team performance: no tick During the last franchise period the Bulls never made the playoffs (we did )

Player development: tick is questionable. Continuous discussions on here of various youth players poached from clubs. I accept they have brought through Bateman and Whitehead but is there a long line of player development?

This all shows what a flaming farce the franchise system is. If it is to be impartial there needs be preset, unambigious criteria which no one can question.

How Bradford were awarded a grade B license is beyond me.

Don't be stupid, i've been told many times thats not true, ours was the weakest bid.


Ask anyone from Cas or from the VT, they will put you straight