Robbie Hunter-Paul has left his position at the Bulls. Confirmed by League Express and League Weekly.

Best of luck in the future.

I think that this was going to be the likely outcome, but I expected the announcement to come after the season end.

In one way, this could be looked at as clearing the decks with both Ferres and now Robbie gone there's opening for a new owner to bring in their own people for those jobs.

Or it could all just be another helping of bad luck that's followed the club around for these last years

I can't help but feel sad about it. Robbie leaving, much as it was obvioulsy half -expected, is definitely the end of an era for me and it just seems indicative of everything, the whole set of circumstances, surrounding the club at the moment.

I can accept that Robbie and Steve Ferres leaving is a clearing of the decks for some, potential, unannounced, unknown new owner but, right now, Robbie's leaving just gives me an empty feeling in my stomach and a big, 'what else is hanging over us', feeling.

It does rather feel like a clearing of the decks

I guess that we'll find out a bit more about future plans in a couple of days when we'll see if the players get paid on time (and by whom?). It's a bit of shame that we long-suffering fans have to rely of assumptions made on absolutely no information, but the lack of transparency from the top is the reason for that.

So much for the transparency that Marc Green trumpeted when he took over...

Statement from the club:

Hearing that you're in deep doo dah. Hope the new owner comes to fruition.

Good luck Robbie, and congrats on the new arrival.

It does now seem something else may be afoot, if this tweet from Jarrod Sammut this morning is to be believed. Are they not getting paid again perhaps?

I am getting really pi$sed off with all this speculation, where is it getting anyone? The known facts start and pretty much end with the fact that we contrived to snatch total disaster from the jaws of survival, by being embarrassed by Fev. There's the one thing, right there, plain as the nose on your face.

OBVIOUSLY things are bloody tight wit the biggest squad in world sport, full-time, on 4K crowds but we stumbled on and had we won that game we would have been (relatively) fine for the time being.

The fact we lost is was, as I have written many times, but seems the penny hasn't dropped with some, just a financial disaster, a Cruise missile into the cashflow. Stop right there: a financial D*I*S*A*S*T*E*R

Not only a disaster fro next year, but also killing the golden geese of playoff games at home against in particular the Rhinos, and of course the revenue of the MPG itself had we got to that. Instead - well, you know the fixtures.

I don't care what you say, Green MUST have budgeted for being in the playoffs, as what choice would he have? It is all very well saying "but you need a plan B if not" - except that plan B could only ever involve mass sackings, going part-time, and giving up all hope. Unless you had the odd million to spare.

And so, we all sat back to see what would happen, but I, for one, not seeing a way out. Since then, the indicators of the state of the club include:
a) we had an HMRC winding up to contend with
b) the wages were paid late.
c) Ferres falls on his sword (and now Robbie leaves)

So anyone who wants a "statement" seems to me to be slow on the uptake.

Unfortunately not all of us are happy with our own assertions, Inspector Aardvark, and prefer the club to at least give an inclination of the position we're currently in amid the uncertainty.

Well, whilst it is obvious we have crashed, headfirst, into a major short term cashflow problem, I do have some hope in that all our medium( signing players for next year) and long (youth setup) term plans are all still going ahead. We need cash.

What good is a statement from the club like the last one delivered by Mr Green only to find a day later that a winding up petition is posted against the club, wages were paid late, and the person he defended has walked out since? They are damned if they do and damned if they don't at the moment.

What fans want is an HONEST and ACCURATE statement about what the situation is and what is happening behind the scenes.

The last statement by Marc Green was neither honest nor accurate - in fact, it sounded very much like the words of somebody who had spat the dummy out because his precious holiday had been disturbed. To blame the fans because they don't buy their drinks inside the ground, how petty was that?

All the fans want is openness and honesty. It is no shame to admit you are struggling. But to insist everything is A-OK when the situation is clearly far from it, only makes fans feel they are being treated as mugs and that the management has no respect for it's paying customers.

If you can't be bothered to explain to those concerned what is really going on, then you have no right to complain at any gossip / Chinese whispers / call it what you will, that arises as a result of people having to guess based on the scraps that they are fed.

I don't disagree and from what I have heard more players are set to leave including those who we thought were contracted into next year. I hope this isn't the case but with no news or news you can't trust coming from official sources then who do you believe.

Not sure anything will be announced until after the 5th September (WUP). Staff and players leaving, the Jarrod Sammut tweet, but the owner continues to make the right noises, players being signed etc. Something doesn't make sense.

I agree that nothing makes much sense.

Players are being announced for next season and it appears to be business as usual, except that the management apparently has an escape committee and is executing some sort of, 'Sound Of Music escape plan', by disappearing one by one whilst singing, 'So Long, Farewell'.
It is all very redolent of a river trip I took some time ago, where the boat's captain told us, I think jokingly, that in the event of an emergency we were to remain in our seats and carefully follow the instructions which he and the crew would would be shouting to us through megaphones from the riverbank.

On the basis that, if the chairman didn't feel confident of pulling the club through, there was little point in him scraping together the wages last month and he may as well have just called it a day there and then. The fact he didn't makes me guess there has to be a plan, though I can't think what. If we get past wages day without incident I'll maybe start feeling a little more confident.

The old expression was hope for the best but expect the worst - I think I'll go and dust it down...again.

Like the reference to the sound of music ha, so long, farewell. Will we see Marc Green next to go, disappearing through the Captain Vonn Trapp door.

Maybe we already have a new owner and it is being saved until after the WUP on Mon before being announced? It is a very strange series of events playing out. As has been said, why would signings for next year be being announced if everything is doom and gloom. Jarrod Sammutt's tweet was odd and he later seemed to back track a little and say he'd heard some old news about wages coupled with some chinese whispers.

If a new owner has been sorted/agreed they probably wouldn't want their first public duty to be presiding over a winding up hearing.

We haven't heard anything about players/staff not being paid this month? That should have been Fri or today shouldn't it? If someone had just taken over or the process was ongoing you could understand the delay in payment last month.

The optimistic side of me is hoping Sundays match is a win, the hearing on Monday is a non-event like the last one and then we have an announcement immediately after saying a new regime (or at least a significant investor is on board with Marc) is in place and we can get on with looking forward to the rest of the shield and 2017.

Of course we could be typing about the death of the Bulls this time next week.

All very well, but what we need is an announcement. I think Green should be made by law to make an announcement at least once an hour.

Is Sammut being a bit disingenuous? He was knocked back by the Bulls a couple of times so maybe a bit of payback?

Agents are usually a savvy lot (Caisley being an exception) so allowing signings would go against looking after their Players interests if the Bulls were going down the admin route again.
The contradictory rumours going about aren't helping but I suspect the Club is saying nothing because saying something (just to placate those who think it's their right to know everything but contribute nothing) would just add petrol to the rumour bonfire!

It seems the latest furour is simply over Sammut's tweet and people taking a vague comment by an ex player as proof that the sky is falling.

Until something is officially announced either way, it's unconstructive to speculate.

I wouldn't read too much into what Sammutt says in his tweet, to be honest. Whilst I'm sure he's better place to pick up RL gossip than I am, he doesn't exactly come over as the sharpest knife in the drawer, though, that said, tweets rarely do, tbh.

Still not even sure that the club is actually at the heart of what's going on. The major problem seems to be Marc's security firm, with the Bulls being involved as an associate company. I guess this could still mean problems for the club, of course, if Marc is forced to make payments he doesn't have. Maybe he'd have to sell, and maybe to someone we'd not be too happy about. Everything on the public face is still going on as normal of course, so there's nothing to bother about...

I'm more relaxed about things this month. From what I hear so are the staff. I've no idea what's going on as regards takeovers/people coming onto the board but I think we're ok at the moment at least.

...cue reports of unpaid wages now.

I take comfort in that. If you say it's ok then I'm inclined to believe it. Let's wade past the rapids of speculation and cling to the life-raft of Bullseye.

Well, yeah, I'm happy to admit to taking succour wherever I can find it, but with 'high end' staff leaving at a similar rate of knots to that when CC left, despite the protestations, you do have to wonder what the hell is going on.

Well isn't today payday? It's the last day of the month so if it's not today then it would have been over the last couple of days?

I'm sure if wages weren't in this morning it would be all over social media by now.