Quote ="bullinenemyland"For me the club and the RFL cannot be separated and until a full independent investigation is undertaken into the RFL's involvement in:
a) purchasing the leasehold at Odsal - why did they do it really?, what was the due diligence?, did they know or had they even considered the ramifications such a decision would have on the club and their credit position?
b) the reasoning behind their choice of every owner that has failed since the first administration in 2012 - what bids were tabled? and why did they chose certain bids over others?
and c) what is the process involved in proving the successful bidders were fit and proper for owning a club? - what checks take place?, are they financially vetted?, is proof of funds verified?
Until all these questions are answered, I don't think anyone can have any trust whatsoever that the club is in safe hands, particularly as much of the recent poor history of the club has gone on when the game was in the stewardship of the majority shareholder.'"
Good and valid questions.
We may have had our differences of opinion in the past, but let's' try to get on to the same page moving forward.
A brief answer to your 3 queries as quoted above is as follows:
a) Odsal land grab.
b) All except AC were chosen because the RFL had a strong hunch or desire that they would fail, or if they didn't terminally fail, then the RFL hierarchy (Wood, RR and Moorhouse) knew that they could craftily impose fines, withhold central funding etc and consequently the owner incarnations of Hood, then OK, then Green would be thrown under a bus c/o the RFL. This is NOT a conspiracy theory; it's based on facts that we have to hand, and they will be released in to the public arena within say the next 4-6 weeks, and/or passed on to a truly independent body as part of a fair and thorough 'investigation'. In summary over the past 8 years it is alleged that the RFL and Wood have been doing their utmost to stop the Bulls being successful. Why?; see a) above.
c) Up to circa mid 2017 we understand that the RFL's fit and proper person test (FPPT) only vetted a pending owner's business background/ dealings in the UK geographic region. That conveniently meant that AC's failed businesses etc in the ANZAC region were not accounted for. According to one of our RFL insiders the FPPT rules have changed since. Regardless, the FPPT process adopted by the RFL is allegedly a sham and has for the main part been based upon wholly subjective and partial decisions. For example AC's FPPT was signed off by AC's friend - NW.
Trust is thin on the ground.
Things need to change, and we are reasonably confident that they will. Watch this space !
Charles c/o the NEC.
