Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:09 pm  

Fans Forum from Twitter for those who haven't seen:

Rehash of Problems Faced:

*Andrew Chalmers says it's an honour for him and Graham Lowe to be owners of such a great club.

Chalmers - "Bradford Bulls has a rich history but since 2012 there are have been dark clouds hovering over this club. I made a considerable effort to purchase the club from the administrator. Every attempt I made was rebuffed. The conditions from the RFL to any new owner was that Bradford had to play in the Championship with a 12 point penalty. There have been a lot of challenges since taking on the club. We had no players or coaching staff. No facilities. We couldn't get in to Tong. We had no bank account. We had no season ticket money after it went missing. When taking on the club it was an emotionally charged time because we had 18 days to start from scratch to get ready. We were able to assemble a squad of 23 players (many of which were still illegible for the Academy)."

"Something then happened which took us by surprise. We had 47 people attempting to litigate us for past wages. This litigation claim has damaged the on-field performance. It hurt me, it also hurt the players. Rebuilding a club takes time but myself and Lowe are fully committed to the Bradford Bulls. We ask for patience. We won't give up, we won't be going nowhere. Even though we have been relegated to League One."


2018

*We are waiting for the RFL to confirm the structure for League One next season. We will have three pre-season friendlies.

*One will be away at St Helens (part of Bentley deal I assume).
*One will be against Sheffield (Chisholm deal?).
*One is trying to be arranged on Boxing Day.

*Andrew Chalmers announces that the Bradford Bulls will run a hybrid squad in 2018 comprising of full and part-time players.

*Geoff Toovey is contracted till November 2017 and I respect his decision of wanting time to think about his future." *Geoff Toovey is aware of the interest linking him with the Gold Coast Titans but is committed to finishing the season with Bradford. When asked about 2018, It's a decision Geoff Toovey will make at the end of the season. A sticking point could be the £150,000 central funding the club recieve due to finishing in bottom 2 of Championship.

Geoff Toovey: "I've never run away from a challenge. I've given up a lot of commitments to be here but I need time to weigh up everything. There's a lot of things to consider for myself personally and professionally. I need decide what is best for you the fans."

*"We are going to announce a new assistant coach. I universally detest dual registration but we needed to use it in 2017."

*"Regarding our recruitment for the 2018 season, we will target the players playing in the Rugby League World Cup."

*"A player at that competition only needs to play two games before coming legible to sign and expand our squad."

*Andrew Chalmers - "We've started the process of talking to other clubs and their managers. We want players to come here for the right reasons."


The Academy

*"The Bradford Bulls Academy will be staying in 2018. We want to make it better - expand the players that we can produce. We are going to push the RFL to adopt change to the Academy structure in this country."

*"By 2021 we aim to be running; U23 reserve grade, U20s and U18s high performance academy and the U16s scholarship. We value the the benefits that the Academy can bring to the club, bring stability to the Bradford Bulls."


Fans, Sales and Odsal

*"We will be launching our 2018 season ticket drive next month. The prices will remain the same and we aim to sell 3,000."

*"We are finalising a new long term kit deal and we expect the new shirts to be available in November (pre Christmas)."

*"We will announce a new corporate partnership programme which is also being launched targeting Bradford’s 17,000 businesses.”

*"We are going to develop a new on-line and in-store ticket and payment system, which will be revealed in the future."

*"Odsal Stadium needs a significant upgrade. It's needed one for over fifty years and we are looking to address this. We won't be moving out or away from Odsal. This is holy ground."

*"What happened previously before we took over is for the RFL to sort. They run the competition - the buck stops with them."

*"Odsal is a facility. What other ways can we use Odsal to generate money to help cover the costs of the rent."

*"Sustainability is key and we have plans to help the club achieve those goals. I will give everything I can."


Supporters are saying what a breath of fresh air the forum was tonight. AC likeable and is already building a good rapport with fans.

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:13 pm  

Just googled a few of the champ 1 teams and a lot of them still charge £15 adult admission which is what it costs to get in as an adult to Odsal so what do we really expect?

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:13 pm  

I didn't go tonight but am quite pleased by all I have read. The Full Time/Part Time team sounds a good idea to me and shows to me the owners are looking for the best way of getting a good team on the park without breaking the bank. They have to ensure the full timers are key players who can win us games/have that x-factor about them such as Chisholm or Sironen. They could win us games all by themselves in that division.

I don't see that organising the training would be that difficult. All the part time teams only train with each other 2 or 3 times a week. At least we'd have some of the squad in training all the time which would already give us some advantage over the rest. I'm intrigued to see what quality of part time player is tempted to come play for us.

I really like the sound of having a reserve team and expanding the academy which can only help the first team by giving us more potential players. Surely we'll see a much smaller first team squad next year and in times of crisis we can give a young player or reserve player a chance.

I will definitely buy a season ticket again this year and am quite looking forward to seeing us play some more different teams. Chalmers isn't heaping pressure on himself or the team by promising promotion and trying to keep a super league or championship quality squad like previous owners. He hasn't been sucked into spending loads on players to try and survive in the Championship and doesn't appear to be setting his stall out to overspend in League 1.

Only time will tell how it will all go but it doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster just yet.

Surely £150,000 central funding, more than 18 days to get a squad together, time to sort out merchandise/season tickets/shop and no 12 point deduction has to mean we are in for a better time next year?

I agree that Chalmers looks to be setting the club up ready for potential franchise criteria being brought back in before 2021.

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:23 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

If any of you are here I'm sat near the front on the left. I'm the only one in work clothes (shirt and tie) by the looks of it.

Jeez, I always pictured you as Nobby's twin brother, as per your avatar.

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:26 pm  

amberavenger wrote:

Bulls Twitter done a good job of relaying the pre prepared stuff, gone silent on the fan questions it seems.

My initial take away is that aiming for 3k season tickets is... Interesting. A new membership prospect to give people incentive. Hold on, have we gone back in time to three years ago...

Is that different from pre pre pre pre prepared?

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:35 pm  

debaser wrote:

As an aside, I spoke to Stuart D about the press releases and asked if there was anything that could be done. He said the person who does it has a degree in media! But clearly not in English.

He said that "anything important" is sent to him for proof reading. I did stress that it's embarrassing, which he conceded. I think he is on his case big time now.

So the person concerned may well, and most likely has a C or better in English. Incredible!

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:41 pm  

psychostring wrote:

I didn't go tonight but am quite pleased by all I have read. The Full Time/Part Time team sounds a good idea to me and shows to me the owners are looking for the best way of getting a good team on the park without breaking the bank. They have to ensure the full timers are key players who can win us games/have that x-factor about them such as Chisholm or Sironen. They could win us games all by themselves in that division.

For me this is key. I think we are the first club to try this system? Could be wrong but it is imperative that the full time players are the kind you describe. I will be highly frustrated if next season the FT playing staff is the likes of Thomas, Halafihi and Davies. I hope the FT lads are Chisholm, Sironen, Lee Smith, Willie Tonga, Ross Peltier and possibly the academy lads already here like Oakes, Ryan, Kirk, Wilkinson if we keep them.

psychostring wrote:

I really like the sound of having a reserve team and expanding the academy which can only help the first team by giving us more potential players. Surely we'll see a much smaller first team squad next year and in times of crisis we can give a young player or reserve player a chance.

Agree with this. For too long we have brought in players and we end up with donkeys on more money than the academy lads. For example, we might have 4 wingers? Instead of 2-3 main wingers and academy back ups. I mean it shouldn't have taken Rickett this long to get a shot at the wing spot with the injuries we have sustained. And a reserve side might give us players in actual positions instead of using Halafihi as a centre?

psychostring wrote:

I will definitely buy a season ticket again this year and am quite looking forward to seeing us play some more different teams. Chalmers isn't heaping pressure on himself or the team by promising promotion and trying to keep a super league or championship quality squad like previous owners. He hasn't been sucked into spending loads on players to try and survive in the Championship and doesn't appear to be setting his stall out to overspend in League 1.

I won't be buying a season ticket as I am never sure when I can make it. Besides I won't be buying one at the same price as last season when their aren't as many games at home? Unless the format gets rejigged. I will however still pay on the gate as I have no issue with that.

psychostring wrote:

Only time will tell how it will all go but it doesn't sound like a recipe for disaster just yet.

Surely £150,000 central funding, more than 18 days to get a squad together, time to sort out merchandise/season tickets/shop and no 12 point deduction has to mean we are in for a better time next year?

I agree that Chalmers looks to be setting the club up ready for potential franchise criteria being brought back in before 2021.

I never thought I would say this but in paper this actually looks like a very good and honest plan haha! However this is the Bradford Bulls and we know that we will wait until something happens and the wheels are in motion. I would say we are in a much better position going into 2018 than we were going into this season. And it sounds like good news on the kit front so at least the club won't lose out on the Xmas selling money.

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:46 pm  

Duckman wrote:

I wasn't there, but looking across the images on social media, did the "plan" slide really say;
"there is almost certain to be a super league licensing format from 2021"??!!
From owners that are known to be close to certain members of the rfl could that be a pretty big clue as to future direction? and a reason maybe to put so much emphasis on the academy structures....just hard to belive the rfl planning for 3/4 years in advance!

Thats exactly what he said.He was quite adamant that would be happening although he gave no clear indication of why he thought that or if he had personally been told that.

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 9:50 pm  

It'll be interesting to see how this 'Hybrid Squad' is going to take shape. Assume the main spine of the team would remain full time. No real numbers were mentioned tonight in relation to how many of the squad will be full time. Will the board announce who is part time and who is full time or is that for us to figure out? Also, if Toovey is going who is making the decisions on the playing roster? Chalmers stated that the signing and scouting for 2018 has already started.

Re: Fans Forum 16th August : Wed Aug 16, 2017 10:53 pm  

Johnbulls wrote:

Thats exactly what he said.He was quite adamant that would be happening although he gave no clear indication of why he thought that or if he had personally been told that.

Cheers for the confirmation. Well he can't give an indication why I guess without probably betraying confidences. but that strikes me as an odd thing to be so sure of with all the uncertainty surrounding rl structures at the moment, I get the distinct impression that's not just a guess on his part.