I think I might become the voice of doom and gloom because being positive never got me anywhere when it comes to Bradford. You can regularly maintain a dog turd by spraying it with hair spray, putting in the fridge, maybe varnishing it. You can do that every year if you like. But maybe then consider if you'd actually be better off putting it in the bin.

The thing about maintenance which is all people seem to aspire for, is that by definition it simply leaves Odsal as it is and stops it getting worse. We have to have a vision for going WAY beyond that, and improving the ground. We need to have a roof on the terrace for starters. I'm a real cynic here because nothing is being said about how you make the ground fit for modern times.

To be right Pumpy I'd guess that the maintenance simply hasn't been done. Upkeep would only be an ongoing cost if the stadium was being used, which it currently isn't, no fans in means no safety certificate required, and of course, if we were to be the new tenant we'd be saddled with that cost not the RFL. £200K seems a stab in the dark (with a massive and erratic big pointer) and not a serious estimate of the RFL's costs.

I think the club are still using the offices, though I've not been up for a while. Apparently, the office, shop and lottery bit was never part of the old lease and is being leased separately, direct from the council, or so I was informed by someone working in it. Don't know if this has changed though.

Regarding rent. It could mean a reduction for us. Didn't Salford invite Sale be co-tenants at their new stadium to half the rent they were paying?

I'd imagine the costings have been discussed by all the parties involved and have a better idea of what needs doing than me. I'd imagine will be spent on mainly the terracing for fans, facilities like toilets and the floodlights then adding the stuff needed for stock cars like crash barriers etc.

For me the stock cars is maybe our only hope. If a new stadium hasn't materialised when the council have a perfect location, the club have moved out of Bradford and they have a dilapdating stadium, they never will build one. Even if they did, look at what has happened at Wakefield & Castleford.

The days of a new stadiums for single use such as RL are gone. All councils are skint and they're not going to spend millions on something being used 13 times a year. Even if we were in SL, the sports utterly f*****D and we wouldnt have enough money to do anything. If Odsal is being used multiple times of the year, then the liklihood of some money being spent on it like a new roof, improves.

I don't think it's a perfect answer. But if it manages to keep the club in Bradford then it's better than Dewsbury (as much as a tidy stadium it is)

difference between us and Salford is they held the lease. We don't. As lease holders they were able to sub let to Sale. The stockcar lot are negotiating directly with RFL who will be obliged to maximise rental income from stadium. We might get a slight reduction in rent as we wont have full use of stadium 7 days a week like before, but you can guarantee other Clubs will ensure we don't get it reduced by much or they'll scream unfair advantage.

How do you calculate maximum rental income from a vast rugby league stadium when only one rugby league club wants to play there, and the owners insist it remain for the playing of rugby league? Considering it was empty and at risk of dereliction it wouldn't appear to a seller's market. If the Bulls agreed to provide security, pay the council tax and electric bills it would be a significant improvement on the RFL's previous situation. I'd be surprised if the stock car enthusiasts are paying anything initially.

The quicker we can get the Rfl out of this conflict of interest, the better. I hope the club have at least looked at buying the lease back from them.

Didn't they devalue it to around 850k a couple of years ago in their accounts. Might be a sensible use for one of the long term low interest loans from the government bailout if club applied. They did say it was nt to be used to pay players and was for infrastructure projects. But there's no point buying lease back unless we have a long term plan and money to improve stadium.

For Maislebugs other clubs will have a good idea as to rental costs of a stadium as several of them are currently paying it. There wasn't a massive outcry about the 70K figure we were paying before so that suggests that about the right figure. RFL could present it to other clubs as they are gaining 100k by us/startrax paying the business rates but would still expect both us and startrax to be paying a significant amount of rent too ( probably undisclosed amount though).

This is insanity. Pinning hopes of our survival on an even smaller minority sport?

Hell fire! Why not go all in and bring back Kabbadi? You go on Facebook and twitter and it's full of starry eyed folk who should know better pining for Odsal and Super League.

If Odsal and Stockcars are all we can look forward to we should cash in the chips, revoke the application and remain at Dewsbury. It's hardly aspirational is it?

Bulls Twitter says new signing tomorrow at 6

Just Dam Fleming being announced on a one year deal. Not impressed with this but we need a prop, he's got experience. Works well for Wales with Kear. Hope he's miles better than his last stint with us. Would honestly have taken Kirk over Fleming at the moment. But of course I do hope he proves me wrong and is class. I did enjoy his stints at Toronto and Halifax and looked to have matured from his days with us.

Has anybody got a link to anything official about us not offering Johnson, Waite-Pullan, Barlow and Foster new contracts?

There was a press release earlier on in off season about Waite-Pullan, Foster and Hodgson but it didn't include Johnson and Barlow but I cannot seem to find it. It was also in the paper

By my reckoning we have 29 players signed up (28 + 1 loan)

1. Brandon Pickersgill 2021
2. Matty Dawson-Jones 2021
3. Rhys Evans 2022
4. Ross Oakes 2021
5. Joe Brown 2021
6. Danny Brough 2022
7. Jordan Lilley 2021
8. Anthony England 2022
9. Thomas Doyle 2021
10. Steve Crossley 2021
11. Adam Rooks 2021
12. Aaron Murphy 2022
13. Sam Hallas 2021
14. George Flanagan 2021
15. Brad Gallagher 2022
16. Dan Fleming 2021
17. Levy Nzoungou 2021
18. David F-Johnston 2021
19. Brad England 2021
20. Ebon Scurr 2021
21. Matty Race (FB/HB) 2021
22. Cameron Berry (HK) 2021
23. Bradley Ho (PR) 2021
24. Sam Smith (SR/CE) 2021
25. Murphy Smith (WG) 2021
26. Ethan O'Hanlon (SR) 2021
27. Billy Jowitt (FB/HB) 2021
28. Reece Hamlett (WG) 2021
29. Elliott Wallis (WG) 2021 (OL)

Think thats bang on Jimmy.
Looking at the Club website, There are 4 players listed in the first team squad who haven't been mentioned as staying or going,
Sam Barlow
Greg Johnson
Danny Maskill
Harry Shackleton
There are also 5 players listed in the Reserve Squad who haven't been mentioned
Ryan Butterworth
Ryan Leadbetter
James McGurk
Dewi Billingham
Alix Stephenson
At this late stage in the proceedings, the assumption would have to be that they are all moving on. unless anyone knows different.

We must be keeping Shackleton? With the loss of Cobi Green and Littlewood do we actually have any out and out halves as back up to Brough/Lilley?

Only 2 half backs is certainly a concern isnt it. With the best will in the world, at 38, its hard to imagin Brough is going to be able to play every single game.

At the min the squad looks paper thin in general let alone just at half back. Im still hopeful of a few more 'established' players to come in. There's still Anthony Walker to be formally anounced but hes a total shot in the dark having not played since 2017

I’ve heard there are some more to announce in the forwards and I don’t believe Walker is one of those... we have Matty race I believe as backup half though another would be nice...

Mathew Race and Billy Jowett, Both very young. I know nothing about Jowett but Race is well thought of.
There has been an eery silence re Shackleton, but something may be happening behind the scenes. Its just getting a bit late in the day with contracts up next week,

A bit of a underwhelming signing, we are said to be in the running for the 12th place in superleague, we are said to have missed out on cuthbertson who signs for York, Leigh sign sidlow, and we get Dan Fleming

It sure is. I'm sure we had a season recently where we went in with either 1 or 2 halves and I remember everyone on here saying the same thing about lack of back ups. Need a back up halfback and a couple of props. At the moment I have England and Crossley as starters with Fleming, Nzoungou and Scurr as rotation. We're fine in the second row. Arguably our strong point at the moment.

If that's the same Anthony Walker that's brothers with Johnny Walker (our ex player) then I don't want them anywhere near the club. Sooner have Barlow for another year.



Ah I didn't realise Race and Jowitt were halves, thought they were FB's. I don't know much about these new academy/reserve lads. A couple of years ago I knew who was coming through etc. Nowadays with the teams being stripped year on year I'm not sure who the next 'big thing' coming through are haha.

Just wait and see what the final squad will be... apparently 2 more props to announce that no one knows yet... just have to see what the final squad is guys.... personally I really like Fleming he was fab against us and fab for Wales at loose forward, if what I’ve heard about other signings is true we could have some pack next season!

Hopefully one of them will be a barn storming prop. Only one we've had recently is Peltier. And maybe the other could be an offloader. I wasn't impressed at all with Fleming in his last stint with us but I did like some of his performances for Toronto and Fax. If he has played LF before then maybe he's a back up for Hallas, or another option for 13 if Hallas has to move to hooker for any reason.

What have you heard about the other signings? Hope they are like I have said above as it would really benefit Doyle's game playing with a barn stormer (quick PTB's) and an off loader (Doyle in broken play would be class).

To be fair we've probably got more depth already than the beginning of this season. Hopefully Kears got a good forward up his sleeve. Would like to see one more enforcer.

I don't think anyone's really got that much depth this year. Some very strong 17s, but once you start getting passed the 21st man, a fair few of the top teams have unknowns Or young kids signed from SL.

On the half-backs, I'm quite looking forward to seeing Race. He was putting in some dominant performances for the reserves. At least we've got 2 good half backs and then a young back up. Can't remember the last time we even two haha better than the days of having to see Addy put there.

Purtell and Addy in the halves for arguably the biggest game we had over the past 5/6 years haha. I'll never forgot those days unfortunately haha. Brough and Lilley should go well, even if I was looking forward to a few years of Milnes and Lilley!

Cuthbertson was wanting a big salary that Bulls couldn't afford to match.
We all want the club to be sustainable so Fleming is more our budget.
Don't forget all this SL talk came after these players were signed.

Not pay over the odds for Cuthbertson, good decision. Would be a great player for a year maybe two at this level if he can keep fit. But not worth the cash. As much as I didn't rate Fleming last time he was here, he's not a bad back up to the likes of England and Crossley.

I for one hope we don't get SL. Would love to see a good season in the Championship earning our way.

On another note has anyone heard anything about any potential friendlies? Like on Boxing Day or anything?