At the Fans Forum. Rohan's first appearance. Marc Green asked do you want us to go part time? The answer was a resounding no from the floor!

I just wonder what difference losing £500k makes?

Depends how close to the wind we're currently sailing. Have we been making any kind of a profit these past two years? Have we spent practically every spare penny we had up until this point?
Does Marc Green have any funds to invest at all (odsal lease anyone?)?

I think a £500k shortfall is literally the worst case scenario, as I've said before we have no guarantees of making the mpg again - in fact very few probably anticipated getting that far - so the funding was in all likelihood going to be lower than last year's anyway.

Memberships will certainly be the bulk, but it also includes general turnover like shop sales, Bullpower, Bulls TV etc. This is what MG said earlier at the forum when he was exhorting us to buy from the club.

It''s OK, Matt Blythe isn't concerned about our position.

[i“I don’t really look at the league table – I look at our performances,” said Blythe.

“If we perform well, it will take care of itself. It’s getting towards the business end of the season where we need to be putting a few and performances wins together.

“That’s the main thing for me – not the table but enjoying yourself on the field and performing to the best of your ability as a team and as an individual.

“We will do that and we’re not far away. We are bound to get slated after the Halifax result but we’re not far off at all.”[/i

Well as long as you're having a good time on the field Matty, who gives a damn if we don't make the middle 8s. The business end was against Halifax and you lost. You got utterly bullied by Fax. Even if we win all our games, we might still finish 5th. It's out of our hands!!! I know actions speak louder than words, but his words speak loudly to me. We should be coming out saying how utterly pathetic we were against Fax, apologising to the fans, and saying we're under no illusions of the task in front of us. It's almost like they don't quite grasp of what might be about to happen to us or they don't care.

I'd guess Blythe was probably repeating the sort of thing that Smithy would have been saying.

In general terms, if you're playing well you'll be enjoying yourselves. We've stuttered along too much this year and, to build the sort of confidence we've lacked, I can see the sense in that attitude, to be honest.

But if he had come out and said that, he'd still have been slated for just spouting platitudes. The fact is, it is totally irrelevant what he says, what has upset the fans is what they do on the field, and not what they say.

You say his words speak loudly to you, but they don't. Whatever he said he wouldn't make me feel any better or any different. Are you saying had he said what you suggest, you'd be a happy bunny now? I don't think you would.

And the players 100% obviously knew very well before kickoff that the home game against Halifax was THE crucial game which kept our destiny in our own hands, and was a genuine 4-pointer, and that for me at least is the worrying thing. What they produced, in the full knowledge they could be effectively finishing the Bulls as a full-time team if they lost.

They failed last year because although they actually got results their performances were well below par which ultimately meant they were unable to up their game in various middle 8 games. Had they done so then we would have had a home tie with Wakey and who knows. Admittedly that is conjecture but not the part about the performances being dire.

That's exactly what I think will happen. The £500k shortfall will need to be made up somehow, and I'd be amazed if it was by the people behind the club.

I notice there was a post on facebook from Mr Gledhill regarding this. Whilst I always take Mick's comments with a pinch of salt, it was suggested that the club would put up season ticket prices in order to make up the shortfall for next year, should we finish outside of the top 4.

Personally speaking, if we're not in Super League next season, I will not be paying for a season ticket if the price increases. In fact, I won't be paying for one at the current prices again if we're still in the Championship. I've had a season ticket for approx 25 years now, but won't have one next year unless we are either promoted or the price drops. There's only so far blind loyalty goes in your club, and I'm afraid I've hit my limit now. Continuing to rip the fans off each year under the guise of "it's the only way we can afford a full time squad", regardless of whether it's true or not, is no longer on IMO.

But it's most probably true. Green isn't as wealthy as the likes of Beaumont or Davy. He always said he'd run it as a business. If we want a full time squad we have to pay for it. Nobody else is. There aren't any rich benefactors lining up. It doesn't matter whether it's "not on" it's the way it is. So either pay up or accept part time rugby.

Do you want a fulltime Bulls team?

If we go part time I'll not be buying a season ticket. But then if we went part time we'd probably go out of business pretty quickly anyway.

The only chance a club has to "run as a business" is in SL, where the entire cap is covered by Sky. To get there needs cash and luck

I have no doubt it is true. But I can no longer justify paying that sort of brass towards a Championship team. To bore myself silly most weeks watching dross like Whitehaven, Workington, Oldham etc. and paying a premium to do it. If it was considered expensive compared to other Championship teams, then perhaps. But it's actually expensive compared to over half of Super League teams, which is crazy.

Whilst some clubs like Salford and Huddersfield might be relying on wealthy backers and I appreciate we can't rely on that same. But perhaps instead of bemoaning the fact that we don't have that wealthy backer, it's time to look at the way the club is "run as a business" and suggest that business strategy isn't bringing enough money in if they're relying on such expensive ticket prices?

At those prices next year in the Championship, I'll pick and choose my games. This year alone my wife and brother would have attended at least 3 or 4 games on the day, but changed their mind on the basis it would cost them £22 to stand up or £27 to sit down. I'm sure they're not alone.

My point is that you can pay those prices for so long on the basis of helping to get that promotion push, but everyone has a limit of how long they're willing to do it for before they give up and say it's not worth it any more. I'm near that limit now. If I could see a real improvement, I may not be there, but we've got steadily worse every single season for the last few years, and I don't see that changing, even if we're paying through the nose.

Not sure that's true, tbh.

In the words of our tormentors over the years, we'd have to "cut our cloth etc", but with obvious things like the RFL not getting the rent they currently receive and a decent proportion of fans, most likely still large enough to give us one of, if not the, largest crowds in the championship, accepting that it's just the way it is, in my opinion the club would survive, as one of the better teams in this division. What's more, without our opponents having the incentive of beating the, 'mighty Bulls', every week, the not so mighty variety might even beat Halifax occasionally....

I'm less confident than you Bulliac. We've almost gone under twice in the past 4 years and we all know what happened in 1963.

What the club needs more than anything is more money coming in. Marc Green needs other wealthy individuals to join him on the board. I'm not holding out much hope given that we've never had such an individual in the 153 years the club has been going. Until that happens it we need to sell as many tickets as possible.

As things stand I'm optimistic about 2017 and what Smith can do for us. I think 2016 is pretty much gone. There will be a big clear out and hopefully a leaner, hungrier and more balanced squad then. I'm already looking forward to it and will be getting a season ticket.

Exactly this

I'm in the same position. I've stumped up my £280 to sit in the stand for the last two seasons based on the 'you have to pay if you want a SL level team'. In that time I've seen two, maybe three, performances that would be described as 'SL level'. The rest have ranged from bang average through to total dross.

I just cannot keep committing what is quite a lot of money for me into something that it based on this illusion. If we don't go up (and we won't) then it will be a 'pick and choose... pay on the day' model for me next season.

If the club try to increase season ticket prices because we fail to make the middle 8’s then they can swivel if they think that I’m paying more to cover their incompetence. By over charging the fans for the past couple of years we’ve helped to provide the salary cap required to build a very competitive squad. I’m under no illusion that we can get promoted but if we end up finishing out of the top four (below other clubs who have spent a fraction of the money that we have) then that is a failure on the clubs part. I would have more sympathy if we had an injury riddled year but to go the whole season without one scrum half in the squad is inexcusable and I don’t see why the fans should pay for it.

Well if we don't pay for it nobody else will, that's the point, unfortunately.

I'm prepared to give another year as a season ticket holder under Smith with a re-vamped squad. I agree it's been a disappointing season and a missed opportunity and we've had far from value for money - not even close.

I always thought that the longer we spent in the championship the more the support would dwindle. It's a fact of life. When you go out of a sense of obligation it's never an enjoyable experience. I'm actually looking forward to 2017 more than the remaining games of this season.

If 2017 goes the same way as this season I too will find something else to do with my season ticket money. It's already spent now for 2016 so makes little difference either way. However I'm hopeful that Smith knows what he's doing. I expect a lot of dead wood to be shown the door - there's enough of it. We need to rebuild and bring in some stability and leadership rather than thrashing around signing players every 5 minutes.

I reckon that it will take a few quality signings to fire up fans enthusiasm again. So far we've only heard where our best players might be heading to next year. I'm not saying that I'm walking away but my patience is wearing thin.

Green/Ferres making contact with Lowes was when the tits went up.

it's largely just the consquences that were different.

We were getting just a few hundred speccies back then and famously didn't finish the season, of course, and lost everthing - the new club really was a new club with just a few individuals and, of course, a body of fans who rallied round with the new chairman saying that we, "didn't even own a bootlace". Whereas, more recently there was a buyer to take over the old businesses.

Agree about this season and next. A lot of mistakes were made about contracts when we started in in this division, These are up at the end of this season, and I feel much better about next year as it really is a new start in so many ways.

I think it would take a few more years to get to 1963 type scenarios but I think if we went part time it would signal us "giving up" on the dream of promotion and a lot of fans would take that as the time to stop bothering. I'm not sure how the club could sustain itself on a much lower income while playing at Odsal which has a lot more costs than it did in 1963. It'd be reminiscent of Hudders when they were in the doldrums up at Fartown in the 80s. It's only the backing of Ken Davy that keeps them from returning to those days. Hopefully one day our prince will come, keep buying the euromillions tickets (do we still get to play after Brexit?)

As i have said many times the only way any team will ever get promoted under this useless emperors new clothes of a system is if one of the SL teams has a total meltdown, so Championship clubs are relying on an abnormal disaster, the system should permit a team going up fair and #square on the merits but it doesn't. Looking at the SL table you'd have to be a pretty kind of stupid to persuade yourself that an MPG win is a possibility for any of the Championship clubs. It's not. Don't delude yourselves.

I agree with the fact about paying for a full time team. My problem is when said team come out with an amateur attitude. Putting up ticket prices next year would be as good as cutting the clubs throat.
And as for the point about paying next year to see how Rohan goes on, I can't help but feel we'll get the 'new team', 'not used to playing together', 'transition' platitudes trotted out again.

im hoping for a gesture of £5 off the current prices for match day tickets and a 10-20% cut in ST prices to persuade more people to buy them i know i would or at least upgrade from the tickets they have now.

Im also hoping our 40 man squad is trimmed sufficiently, we have loads of players who seem permanently out on loan id be happy with a sub 30 man squad and the under 19's filling in if needed or a loan or 2 coming in during the season.

If they stay the same as this year our attendances will drop as people just wont pay, ive not had a ST but been to every home game this season and payed on the gate, im not going to do it next year for the many reasons people have said, whereas a cheaper season ticket or gate tickets might persuade me to as it may with alot of fed up fans.

Just a thought. Batley have whitehaven at weekend. Wakey loaned a player not sure who to whitehaven and they have now called him back. Is kear calling in favours with wakey to make sure they win. Even heard whitehaven coached called batley if they knew why he had been called back.