Anthony Walker

Yep. That's him.

That's Whitehaven ultra fired up for that one then..

Much of it is pretty tough to call in reality. Where and when does financial necessity start to morph into "giving up"? For what it's worth, as said many times before, I broadly agree with FA's analysis of our promotion prospects.

Marc Green seemed pretty adamant when he said he wasn't going to pump money into the club and that it had to work as a stand alone business, ie paying for itself. Well, I've said before that Green probably[i has[/i put money in, if only to 'tide things over', before ST sales and competition money came in. What's more, the squads, particularly given their size, must have been costly.

One thing I'm certain of is that there has been a lot of money wasted on contracts for players who have barely - if at all - even pulled on a shirt. That has to end and hopefully will end after this season, when many of those wasted contracts run out. Running with between 25 -28 players will be far cheaper, even with a couple of 'better' players brought in. If things remain the same, I'm reasonably confident the club can continue in this division, even if it means moving grounds to lose the high cost we're paying the RFL and maintenance. If MG were to decide that, actually he'd spent more than he ever intended and that he wasn't prepared to carry on, then all bets would be off as I can't see where any new owner is coming from.

Figures I heard re renting VP were pretty similar to what we're paying RFL for ideal. Advantage is we save maintenance costs but disadvantage is we lose bar taking and get a much smaller percentage on corporate hospitality which would probably outweigh savings on maintenance. Plus a percentage drop in attendance from those who dont like VP for whatever reason.

If we go part-time, I'm done.

If we go to VP, I'm done.

My dosh on its own isn't in the grand scheme of things very much but I've been one of the permanent fixtures and so if the likes of me start jacking it in then the writing is on the wall.

I'm sure Green knows that if there is a chance of SL (debatable) then it can only be at Odsal, he knows VP won't work.

However and more pressingly, the part-time thing - the club may have simply no choice, but to sign its own death warrant, but that's what it would be. Sure, some pale imitation of the old club might hang about in the lower leagues during our slide to oblivion, but I'm sorry, it wouldn't be the Bulls, whatever the label said.

My suggestion is for Green to have a word with the money men from Canada, see if they want to go the whole hog and buy into the Bulls, and use it as some kind of dual reg pathway / feeder with Toronto. We have them with us anyway, and its an arrangement that would very much suit both parties.

And say goodbye to Bradford Bulls? He wants a Toronto SL franchise, if that is easier quicker to do it via Bradford and relocate he will

I can see that being the case on VP.

If, with a semi-pro team, we're talking about much reduced gates and presumably reduced corporate income, then a further loss due to an unwillingness to move is likely to be less catastrophic, as income from both corporate and bar takings is likely to be much reduced anyway with, or without, any move. Maybe the fewer fans remaining are going to be from the more committed end and more likely accept it on a needs must basis - or maybe I'm whistling in the wind with that one. The other possibility is to stay at Odsal and just use the stand, allowing the rest to deteriorate. If some of the old diehards were determined to stand they could take out the front seats and re-instate the old Paddock from the 60s and 70s. Oh, god I hope none of this is ever necessary....

Even if we were on course for the MPG (and losing) again, a clear out would be needed. We have some massive wages likely to come off the bill as well - Gaskell, Furgeson, Addy - maybe Purtell. AOB probably the only "big earner" from our time in SL to be retained. Combine that with shipping out a lot of the dross, it isn't that hard to see us having a consolidated FT squad in 2017 even if we finish 5th. If that's good enough to have a promotion tilt, we'll wait and see, but giving Smith a full pre-season I'd hope we weren't scrapping to make it in the Top 4 with less than a month ago again.

One thing the club does need to do ASAP if we don't make Top 4 is to lay out a plan for next year as never mind the off season, the Shield comp is also a convenient jumping off point.

Echo both of the above.

If we are in the Shield then we have to win it, otherwise even more damage could be done plan as we mean to go on, if we finish 5th lets get the clear out started keep the players who want to stay and contracted and lets lose those who we havent seen or rarely make a difference to the team.

As things are I'm comfortable with players leaving, even the better ones - if they don't want to stay then they're better gone imo, so it's thanks and goodbye from me. A bit of freshening up the squad could actually bring benefits anyway as players can be in the same place for too long. Of course, I say that on the assumption that they will be replaced by players of a similar standard and, to be fair, recent recruits like Moss and Chisholm seem to be on the right track.

I was told that the 'money men' behind Toronto, wanted to buy Leigh a few years ago. But I was also told that their finances didn't pass muster with the RFL then.

Well "the money men" behind Toronto is David Argyle of Forbes & Manhattan in Toronto. His investment firm represents a significant proportion of the world's potash market.

If Derek can sell more plastic patios to little Englanders with a back yard than Argyle can sell fertilizer to world agriculture the RFL probably made the right call.

(But I doubt he personally tried to buy Leigh. Perhaps someone else involved over there. There are clearly Leigh connections to RL in Toronto though, hence [url=http://www.canadarugbyleague.com/team/toronto-centurions/this[/url)

Paul Rowley (when he was still head coach of Leigh) was also approached to coach the Canadian National side. When that didn't happen they tried to get Neil Jukes (then assistant coach) instead.

Not sure entirely what the Leigh/Toronto/Canada connection is but there definitely seems to be one somewhere.

All Ontario RL Clubs carry English team nicks..
Scarborough Centurions & York City Reds, merged to form the Toronto Centurions.Does that mean the good Doctor is also in on it?

Doubt it, given that happened in 2011 prior to Koukash ever being involved in the game. Possibly also before Derek in his current iteration, isn't it? I'm not completely familiar with his timeline.

Well done on picking up on this disgraceful attack on your club.

But that is exactly what we are flirting with doing as things stand.

But it only holds 5000 so for example we'd have been turning folk away at a Championship game against Fax.

I think my secret agents have found the evil mastermind's secret lair ...

Sorry to disappoint, but it's not English. You were the latest in a long line of moniker-thievery, but the original moniker was coined by the Roman consul Marius in 107 BC

The comment was speculation about how things might be in the event of us going semi-pro and having to cope with financial pressures caused by losing many fans and looking at how the club could save money and survive.

I'll admit to maybe, being generally at the more positive end when I guess what our gates are likely to be under those circumstances, but I think 5k would probably be enough.

Did he play fullback?

Not certain. I heard hookers were very popular around then, so maybe that

It seems unlikely but not impossible that we'll reach the middle 8's. If we did I would be astonished if we reach the MPG let alone be promoted. The Super League teams wil be 4 from HKR , Salford, Giants Rhinos and Widnes. I think only Leigh have an outside chance of beating an odd one of those teams.
As everyone has remarked, the implications regarding central funding are serious. I am sure Marc Green will do everything he can to keep his promise of retaining a full time squad.
Increased revenue from season tickets is , to my mind , impossible to achieve- whether by increased sales or prices.
There would be a revolt if they decided to slash the budget for the youth structure.
The only ways I can see the management being able to meet expectations are:
1. A smaller full time squad with a liberal sprinkling of U19 products
2. Finalising the purchase of both the freehold and leasehold of the ground