As usual Bere, very eloquently put and I agree totally with what you are saying.
For me, it is now time to revert to promotion/ relegation, even if this means minimum standards being set for teams seeking to progress.
The teams who are "qualified" should be known from the outset or when they are known to be "ready" for promotion and from SL ANY team who finishes bottom should go, regardless of their perceived value to the competition.
Now is the time for some clarity and transparency within the sport and lets do away with trying to contrive a "super" league
At this point in time, most RL fans are embarrassed by the Bulls fiasco, some are disaffected by the lack of genuine promotion and who knows what the wider sporting public think of our game.

WOW!! I've seen some overreactions but hell. Committed much?

Don't fall over your handbag on the way out...

i can understand the reason why the rfl want bradford to fulfill their fixtures for this season (protect the integrity of the competition etc.) however the next stage is/ will be the intersting one..

if they do "relegate" the bulls, the team they bring in will not be ready for superleague, neither by the playing staff or the background/support services required.

although nice for the fans to be promoted, it would be unfair for a club to be promoted without been allowed the time to plan. Widnes are an example - they had time to plan, and it has taken them most of the season to get up to speed.

also as if muted, how can bradford bulls newco be promoted back into superleague without the necessary "history" and success required on the field?

and, for the next round of franchises (assuming the current criteria stand), will the superleague reduce the number of teams by getting rid of the ones that are not financially stable (assuming they actually look at the books)?

I totally agree to your sentiments but I'm afraid we have to except that if bulls go down the pan its not helping the game in general

deffo THIS

Bradford will be in the championship or championship 1 next yeat

This is my stance on it. The inequalities and favouritism shown by the governing body leaves a very bitter taste in the mouth. But i'm not going to cut my nose off to spite my face and stop watching my club. But theres no way i'll be putting any money into internationals, magic weekends and the like. I'd rather just spend extra in the club shop or at the bar. Rugby league is a great game but its run by imbeciles.

So if the RFL hadn't acquired the lease to write of a previous debt and then advance a further £550k and the fans hadn't raise £500k then this debt would have stood at £3.25Million
And only 12 months prior to all this they were given a grade B license

I'm saying no more on this, other than I'm glad a deal has come forward and some of the parasites are now not connected to the future of BB but the RFL have not exactly performed well here

I'm going to stick up for the RFL on this one.

They are seeing a big club in trouble, and the administrator trying to sell a deal that the RFL don't like. The RFL have said that they cannot guarantee which division they will play in, but it seems obvious that they want to take the Bulls away from the scheming and the dealing that is going on, that is perhaps more related to a prime piece of real estate than it is to a rugby club.

It never became an issue for us, because there were buyers floating fairly early on, and those buyers were content to carry on in the Championship. ABC said that they weren't.

A canny piece of work by those in charge to keep land predators away from a heritage club and ensure it can rebuild from below. In terms of Blackpool, were there any buyers at all? In terms of us and Widnes, there were buyers willing to continue in the Championship. The RFL are looking for the same for the Bulls. A good piece of work that has taken the initiative away from those with perhaps motives unrelated to rugby league.

If the ABC consortiums plan was all about getting hold of Odsal they wouldn't be interested in which division they were playing in though would they ?
It would be easier to stipulate that getting hold of the lease off the RFL was their priority, operate in NL1 with lower playing costs, then move the team out of Odsal and then sell to build an Akbars or housing on the site.
I still think something doesn't add up with their plans but, like you say, the most important thing is their intentions weren't right and protection from these predators is what the SL (E) buy-out was intended to do.

Is it true that all Bulls players have been told they are free agents at end of season? If true this says to me they are in championship next year even though bailed out by clubs. Maybe that's why clubs agreed to it and made sure this seasons points weren't made a farce of and that Bradford accept their fate for next year.

Quote: supercat "Is it true that all Bulls players have been told they are free agents at end of season? If true this says to me they are in championship next year even though bailed out by clubs. Maybe that's why clubs agreed to it and made sure this seasons points weren't made a farce of and that Bradford accept their fate for next year.'" Sound like it when you read this:- www.bullbuilder.co.uk/NewsItem.a ... d887bf5c2c

Quote: supercat "Is it true that all Bulls players have been told they are free agents at end of season? If true this says to me they are in championship next year even though bailed out by clubs. Maybe that's why clubs agreed to it and made sure this seasons points weren't made a farce of and that Bradford accept their fate for next year.'" Sound like it when you read this:- www.bullbuilder.co.uk/NewsItem.a ... d887bf5c2c

If true the deal probably suits all parties and removes a big headache for the RFL and the clubs and also bradford. Even if in championship at least the club will exist and if the right buyer comes in then they can enter superleague again.

The Odsal is like a safety net though for them though. Redevelop parts of it, and there was talk of doing something with part of it, and if they can't make money from the club, move it somewhere else and develop Odsal.