For me (and I suspect many others) it isn’t solely based on this and that’s why I would challenge that it’s a knee jerk reaction.

There are so many things about the club that are amateurish at the moment. As I’ve said previously, I suspected this would be the call and as such I’ve had plenty of time to reach my conclusion about the decision. Appreciate others will disagree, but I don’t think it’s a knee jerk reaction.

A culmination of years of chaos, poor decisions and poor leaders has obviously turned plenty of fans away judging by attendances.

It baffles me that given everything we’ve all suffered through at this once great club, that anyone would point the finger at fans who’ve had enough instead of the owners.

Well I imagine the list of 'high calibre candidates' was actually not much of a list at all when budgets were discussed. Best of luck Mark, you'll need it fella, the future looks bleak with the ever dwindling crowds.

I found your post quite comforting. You're right a huge amount now hinges on the fans forum. People need to be satisfied that appointing Dunning is more than just a cost saving measure. If its part of a grander plan then great but I don't blame anyone for being very cynical.

Don't get your hopes up! I think many people are past caring so the forum will be quite poorly attended compared with ones in the past.

It’s a sound appointment but the way they’ve dragged it out for 10 weeks after everything that’s gone on over the last decade and a half shows that the people at the top haven’t learned a thing.

The way they casually throw Noble in there like chucking fish to the clapping seals.

This should have been announced the day after Kear got the sack.

Lovely guy..
Not a head coach of the Bradford bulls.
Shows that Mr Wood is as useless as expected.
Aims for mediocrity at best and will eventually put us the way of the Bluesox.
I've not seen the club in such a poor state in all the time I've watched them.
The only way we get a reprieve from the inevitable is if someone steps forward to buy Wood & Co out.
And I think the queue to do that would be as long as the high calibre overseas candidates that applied for the job.
(And why lie about the applications?)

This is all a little dispiriting when thinking back to the bunker mentality of the “Administration III” thread.

Dunning has refreshed The Bulls since JK “left”. Results have picked up. There have been losses to Fev & Leigh (free hits as Gledhill puts them) that any Bulls fan would have expected at the start of the season taking a look at the squads being assembled by those two outfits. Discount those and MD’s record is:

Played 6 (3H + 3A)
Won 5
Lost 1
For 185
Agin 84
Diff +101
Points 10

That, projected onto the season so far, would see you sitting in a play-off spot.

For all Nigel Woods’ (many in Bongser’s opinion) shortcomings, he surely still has more contacts within the RFL than do most and therefore knows what’s in the wind when Dunning’s contracted tenure is up.

Saw Jordan Lilley’s post match interview with Gladys; the former seemed to indicate that the team as a whole just wished to know which way the board was going to jump.

The players now know and can back their coach 100%.

It is pleasing that current and past Bulls players that he has coached are backing him on social media

What makes you laugh is all the guff about interviews.

Good luck Mark. In the post Leigh match interview he said it was going to take someone to come in with a lot of money to get the club back to SL. It's the most honest thing anyone has said at Odsal in 10 years.
My guess is Noble has volunteered for free, or he wouldn't be here either. It's hard to see any light.

There is nothing to suggest that there weren't interviews and nothing to suggest who was interviewed.

Maybe the interviews went to the tune of:

"Were you to be appointed Bradford Bulls coach (as we hope), your player budget would be X and your salary would be Y"

"What! Y the X did you get me over here? I'm going to get some Zs on the flight back!"

They claimed to have interviewed high quality coaches from around the globe. You’d expect to avoid wasting everyone’s time that there would be in initial enquiry about salary expectations before an interview. Any semi competent business does this - either an expected salary requested with application or an initial conversation prior to an interview.

Technically, and I use that word carefully, if you interviewed more than one Aussie coach, you could then say accurately you’ve interviewed “high quality coaches from around the globe”. Those Aussie coaches could already have been in the uk however.

Regardless of location, they’ve apparently interviewed multiple high quality coaches but gone for a candidate without a proven track record.

Accepting that I might be on my own but I see this is a largely a positive appointment that also demonstrates a pathway for other coaches.. Since taking the interim role there have IMHO been noticeable signs of improvement particularly regarding a more entertaining style of play. Yes Sunday was a battering but blimey look at Leigh's team sheet, was that result really a coaching issue?

Secondly personally I did not know much about Matt Peet until this season. Not a "big" name/big statement appointment as such has already won the CC

Brian Noble as a consultant, yes hands up unless Mr. Dunning requested such an appointment that is somewhat baffling.

Finally, has it all taken too long to announce? Yes, no doubt.

Any one from minute one knew what was coming. If the club think this is going to re-ignite interest from the fans who have drifted away is nonsense. This is a stranger appointment than the Cummings one. I wonder if at the forum the club will come out and give its reasoning for the appointment.

I get the impression,based on the reactions across social media and from on here that the fans forum could get a bit lively!

I doubt because the club will carefully manage whats asked.

The problem is, you can see it at Odsal and even on this board, the vast majority have stopped caring.

The crowds are continuing to fall. It would be interesting to know what the clubs budget is based on next year - is it based on 1k crowds? If not, we’re heading for trouble again.

The club has made its decision, but they must know that this appointment won’t inspire people to renew (and certainly won’t help bring back lost supporters).

Results now are the main thing that will bring back lost supporters. Shall we give it 10 games….?

Matthew Shaw saying on Twitter that we're on a "bottom half" of the championship budget next year.

If that is the case professional rugby in Bradford is dead and I think it proves we are being kept on life support simply to keep Odsal in use.

Isn't he the Halifax loving clown that gets aroused at any thought something negative could happen at Bradford and if there is no hint of anything will make up any b0ll0x at all to get his fix or am I thinking of another Twitter-tw4t?

Agree and this is why I won't be watching the Bulls in 2023
Club are still pushing the challenging for playoffs line when it's clearly not true.
Last year we had a group of 10 who went to games
It's now down to 2-3. With the 2-3 remaining unlikely to renew.

He is a well known Fax supporting RL journalist. Gets more right than wrong.