‘Bulls Too good for third tier’
Runs Balls 4s 6s BRADFORD BULLS coach Geoff Toovey says the club can recover from relegation to the third tier – but rugby league will be poorer for their demise.
The three-times World Club Champions marked the latest stage in their dramatic decline on Sunday when defeat to Toulouse confirmed their relegation from the Championship.
The Bulls have been bottom of the table all season after having 12 points deducted following the old club’s liquidation earlier this year.
The ex-Super League champs now face the prospect of trips to Hemel Stags, Coventry Bears and London Skolars in 2018.
Australian Toovey – a high-profile appointment who had to wait several months for his visa to arrive – is convinced that Bradford can regroup. But he says other clubs will suffer from their demotion to League One.
Toovey said: “I’m sure the club can recover and I’m sure the club will.
“But this puts a huge dent in the rugby league community here from what I’ve seen, and there must be better ways to manage it than there has been.
“It will be a hard struggle for a lot of clubs in this division without Bradford’s fans, both in terms of atmosphere and on a financial basis.
“The game will be all the poorer for it in my opinion.
“The club was always behind the eight ball this season. The tough thing has been that the circumstances have been out of these players’ hands, and out of the current administration’s hands.
“It’s previous regimes that have left everybody stuffed.”