If you're missing it, I think the rest of us are too. I get the need for a mongrel or two, but other than that, the recruitment so far has seemed odd considering the apparent positions we were weak in last year, and who has left the club.

But I suppose the proof will be in the pudding. If they get promoted, there was obviously a good reason behind it. If they don't, I think a lot of fingers will be pointed at that very thing.

You do half expect though to see a headline saying Lee Gaskell has left the club, but don't worry, we've signed Matt James to replace him!

There simply isn't the core support for such a pledge system to work in the current climate.

I believe that a reboot/rebrand of the club would be a far more sensible idea.

Ok, sensible question here.

As you (rightly) state, there is not the core support etc. Therefore, how can you foresee a reboot/rebrand of the club making any difference to this?

Perhaps some really clever play on words to jump on the back of a popular film franchise you mean?

It could link to the name of the coach or a player.

That’d get ‘em flocking in.

BTW did you get permission from the Harry Potter studio to use their typeface?

Perhaps Mission Impossible is more appropriate?

Jeez, I just had an awful flashback....

Maybe we could make up the shortfall by passing around collection buckets at games?

Well, the chairman suggested 4000 members each averaging about £900 spend over the course of the season - in all areas - tickets, food/drink, merchadising, social....

That would enable us to spend the full £1.85m cap

Well, after my recent posts bemoaning the general level of discussion on boards during the off-season, note that [according to 'who's on line' we have 13 members and a rousing 211 guests currently fascinated by this discussion! Wow, 211 guests, if only we had some way of monetising this...come to think of it, wasn't PHs business involved in the interweb thingy? I'm sure he could come up with some way of making this a winner.

4000 fans spending £900 means an income of £3.6m.

So that’s £1,775,000 required on non-players salaries.

Interesting.

I think we’ll be lucky to get anywhere near 4000 members let alone 4000 contributing £900 a year. That kind of outlay is ludicrous. There’s unlikely to be anyone able or willing to spend almost a grand on the Bulls in a year.

I’d expect even the most committed fan to struggle to pay more than £500 a year. Most won’t get near that.

Have to agree. We seem to have fallen into last years trap of quantity rather than quality. When it was given out on Sunday we had a signing to announce, I thought, great it must be a scrum half. Big disappointment when another huge forward walked through the door I have to say. Maybe the halfback is being kept for shirt presentation night.

£900 over a season? That seems excessive to me.
I'm guessing that that includes the regular season and middle 8s. Add to that away day tickets bought through the club rather than on the day walk ups.

Now I consider myself a fairly average fan and I don't usually spend more than £20 on match days inside the ground. A burger and a couple of pints and that's it.

I believe Steve Ferres has identified a player in Australia. I just hope his agent doesn't sell the said player like we were sold Marc Harbert. God bless his soul.

He'll end up being another winger or second row if past recruitment is any guide.

I can't for the world of me see how the figures quoted are attainable.

They're not. Which gives the club the perfect reason as to why they're not spending such a large salary cap and a ready made answer when people question them.

Well if we get up to 3k I'd say we'd have done pretty well to be honest. I assume Green didn't hint how far away from breaking even we were?

TBF Bullseye, that kind of outlay would be what is required to spend £1.85million, not to keep the club full time, break even etc

Think all Marc Green is saying is we CAN spend an SL cap, but with virtuallly no away support, not much central funding, for us to be able to spend that money 4000 fans would have to spend £900 each.

The idea that I'd spend anywhere near £900 per season is ludicrous

I don't know about anyone else, but apart from my season ticket I hardly spend anything at all in the stadium. Around where we sit, you might see a few (only a few!) people with a tray of chips or a pint, but the vast majority do just what we do i.e. turn up, watch the game, and go home!

Sorry if that makes me look like a tightwad, but having forked out £280 for a membership, I really don't have anything more to put into the pot!

I don't have the figures for the season just gone, but during the 2014 season the accounts filed show the club lost £600,000 to the financial year. Obviously you can factor in reduced Sky TV monies as mitigation for such considerable loss.

Let's imagine the club do sell 3,000 at £250 that would be £1,650,000 when added to the £870,000 Sky TV money. When home and away walk through support is added that figure would further increase to £1,910,000.

Since relegation the sponsorship deals have decreased, but are still at a vastly significant level to take the figure to £2,400,000.

Sounds like the Bulls could do with more of the "party" fans who get ed every game if we need people to spend 900 notes a year!

I think I have spent approximately....


...er.....nothing at every game this year.

Where have they got £900 per person from? Insane.

Been thinking about this. When he was discussing the new salary cap rules, The exact phrase used was 50% of the clubs "relevant income" up to a maximum of £1.85m. Then he listed tickets, spending in the ground, merchandising etc. But he didn't mention 2 of our bigger income streams as being "relevant income" ie central funding & sponsorship. Was that an accidental omission? Because the RFL guidelines online (admittedly not updated yet) includes them.

Don't forget about the VAT Peter. Although I suppose old habits die hard

replica shirts, the odd T-shirt and/or Jacket, away match tickets and coach travel to the the away games - except the very close ones. Sometimes, if I go to the shop during the week for match tickets, the wife has a look round a buys something too, but it comes to nowhere near £900.
I did forget the lottery that's £13 a quarter - double that, as the Mrs does the same.