Correct, but the RFL are their tenants and have rights under the law. They can't just be ignored and will have to be compensated.

But the RFL are not payimg a peppercorn rent.

yes they are. they pay the peppercorn rent we used to pay when we held the head lease and charge us a commercial rent ( approx. 70k pa last figure mentioned).

Except that we're on a rent holiday and the RFL are paying the ground maintenance

Out of guilt I presume

Not exactly a rent holiday though. They didn't pay the full monies due to the old bulls for finishing top of the lower 8s pile. I think I saw that the new Bulls were paid over £100K less than was due. Presumably they didn't share it out to the other clubs again.

Totally agree - listening to Dewsbury Rams stuffing us in such an important game just confirms admin 4 and/or Champ 1 is just around the corner

Champ 1? Don't see how the club could survive in that division. Unless redeveready's conspiracy theory comes true relegation = curtains.

Can't see much point in carrying on this topic. Think we got our answer today.

NOPE

Maybe its all a cunning ploy and Cha-Lo's plan will now kick in and we'll win all our next games and stay up!.

No feckin chance!

A ground that cannot generate income to cover maintenance and an assembled squad not fit for purpose..doesn't add up to survival, let alone recovery.Indeed it brings into question the validity of the present Board and it's apparent complete incompetence. Some business plan this Nige!

Who seems to have not posted for a while now

Still here. The plan is still been driven by the 3 wise men.

Who are they?

Must admit, when i spoke to Jaz yesterday (only for a min or so) everything i asked him he seemed totally open and honest.

The club isn't going forward, that much is obvious. On any secret plan to restructure the leagues which ultimately keeps us in whatever the 2 tier ends up getting called I just don't see it. I trust redeveready and I'm sure he's passing on what he can/what he's heard honestly and with the best intentions, but I just can't believe that even rugby league can make that kind of change to the structure so late in the season. We're getting relegated, as a club we need to work out what that means in terms of competing in league 1 to get promotion asap.

no wonder we haven't heard from you in a while. 'Plan' and '3 wise men' in the same sentence takes a bit of believing. Are you Mick Gledhill in disguise

Just hope that if there is some sort of plan its confirmed officially before all the recruitment is out of the way or it'll be a repeat of this season.

Wasn't a pop by any means. Was just an oversight. I for one think there might be some legs, but i'm guessing its just sheer optimism

It is plainly obvious that it is waaaaaaaaaaaay too late to consider a complete league restructure to put in place in 2018. Quite apart from the absurd result it would produce that the teams in the present divisions would have wasted their time.

It would also be impossible to actually bring in anything like this without the consent of the member clubs. It isn't in the gift of the three wise men or anyone. I am sure that had there been such a secret plan then the full details would 100% definitely have leaked out.

I don't discount that Nige & Co. may have a plan for 2019, coinciding with the Odsal lease requirement, but sadly we won't exist by then. A year of 1000 crowds and shorn of what young talent we do have, and no Academy (surely nobody believes a bottom league Bulls could remotely afford to run one) would mean that we would be the absolute easybeats for everyone to flog should the mistake be made of sticking us in the wrong league again. No money, no players, no crowds, it simply has no chance of working whatever form it would take.

The ONLY escape from demise, in my opinion, is the entrance of a Toronto-stylee loaded bunch of ambitious moneymen, as undoubtedly anyone suitably minted can "do a Toronto". But I haven't seen many flying pigs around Odsal of late.

I have posted more than once what I was told 3 or so years ago that the RFL plan was to kill off the Bulls. I didn't believe it then, good though my source was. I don't dismiss it now. We are, at this moment, as near to a dead club walking as makes very little difference.

For what purpose though? Attendances in the sport are dropping as it is, why would they want to kill off a heartland club with (potentially) 10k home support?

Both tales sound like tinfoil hat BS to me. We've just been mismanaged for circa ten years and we're about to go part time in league 1 (at best) as a result. It's as simple as that.

Odsal? The lease nearly expiring? All could start coming together. Some of the people who have been given fit and proper persons passes to own the club have all milked off it before jumping ship? Just trying to think of the reasons if true (which I have no reason to doubt because having met FA in person I dont think he would post anything like that without reason)

The RFl have said in the last few weeks that very little change will happen in 2018.
They also stated that 2019 will see major changes which does make sense and I would expect that to be clarified while this season is still running to give clubs a decent lead in time.
As for the RFL aiming to finish the club I just can't see this. The club was dead in February. Yes, it would have been tricky to replace them so late on but Nobby said Toronto would have done that. Why resuscitate a flat lined club just so you can kill it off in a way you choose later on?
I have tried to keep optimistic but now accept that we probably will go down unless all of a sudden the visa situation is solved and Lowe (is he still with us) turns up with 5 experiences Ausies.
Possibly our best hope is that there is a plan that in 2019 Toronto and ourselves get a SL licence along with London and Toulouse. If this is the case then being in CH or Ch1 may not matter other than as FA points out we have half the fans and no academy. What if we went down and licencing is to be brought back in 2019 and we keep the full academy structure and most of the young lads. That would fuel the "there is a plan" theory.

Anyway, we look like being relegated, losing all of the academy, most of our support and going into a death dive. So, anything better than that will be a bonus.

For what it's worth the Academy is in good shape and is improving all the time. A heck of a lot of work has gone into building from the wreckage of the Green era. Newcastle have an academy despite them being in C1. We have a great relationship with the community clubs in the area and beyond. Provided we keep John B and Mark D and team together that side of things is going to be alright.

Those disillusioned with the first team would do well to get along to some U19 games instead. Cheaper and more fulfilling!