BULLS have had their own well-documented issues over the past decade, culminating in the nadir of liquidation in January 2017, but rugby league at amateur level has clear problems of its own.
Some are Covid-related, with all sports affected in some way by the pandemic, and rugby league is set to face some key decisions in 2022.
But players, first team managers and chairmen have voiced concerns to me about a wider malaise in the game, and the authorities clearly need to do more to stop people being lost to the sport.
There are Bradford clubs who have reasons to be positive, who I’ll get into later, but the worry is that they become the exception, rather than the norm.
My T&A colleague, digital reporter David Jagger, also plays for Leeds-based side Oulton Raiders in the National Conference League, where Bradford rivals West Bowling and Bradford Dudley Hill can also be found.
The NCL released their league fixtures yesterday lunchtime, and Jagger will be pleased his wishes have been granted, with the normal league structure (Premier Division, Division 1, Division 2 and Division 3) returning.
Bowling open their Division 1 campaign at home to West Yorkshire rivals Stanningley, while Dudley Hill visit Dewsbury Celtic in Division 2. Both of those games take place on March 5.
Giving his view from a player’s perspective on Thursday afternoon, before the fixtures were announced, he told me: “Next year, rugby league needs to be big and bold.
“This year they focused on having local derbies, as it was easier with Covid.
“But people at amateur level play the game for those big trips, and the glory of getting a result in Cumbria and Lancashire.
“Every so often you want a local derby that has a bit of needle, but you need variety.
“If you just have local derbies every week, it doesn’t work, and people will just go away from the game if that continues.”
Jagger also criticised the use of golden point extra-time in 2021, complaining that it puts undue strain on the bodies of amateurs and saying that that additional period usually descends into a “poor-quality drop-goal competition”.
He hopes that will be dropped for 2022, but grumbles about that pale in comparison with the struggles many teams in the Bradford District are facing.
In October, Keighley Albion chairman Richard Dibbin told me where amateur rugby league is going wrong.
He said: “There were 10, 11 or 12 teams that started in Division One of the Yorkshire Men’s League like us, and I think only three completed a full season.
“I’m not sure exactly what to put it down to, but I’d suggest people have found other things to do during Covid, and maybe lost interest in the game itself.”
He added: “It’s only going to get harder next year, as the RFL are going to start charging players a yearly fee to play from 2022.
“We’re already desperate for people to pay their subs, and now there’s going to be a charge of between £18 and £25 for any individual, youth or open age, to play the sport too.”
And if things weren’t bad enough, he said: “We lose a lot of players to rugby union, but you can put it down to union clubs generally having better facilities.
“I think the two sports need to put their heads together, and maybe rejig their schedules, because there shouldn’t be a crossover, where we lose players constantly to the other code.”
Bradford Dudley Hill’s first team manager Steve Wright often highlights the same problem when we chat too, their ageing squad.
Jagger insists that is not an issue confined to Dudley Hill either, saying: “Player retention is the biggest issue as always, especially after the last year with Covid.
“It’s why Dudley Hill suffer. They have so few young lads come through to open age, but it’s not just them, that’s game wide.”
Wright often makes comparisons with Hill’s great rivals West Bowling, and talks about their younger squad.
And they are one of the few amateur rugby league clubs in the district who appear to be thriving.
Thanks to their partnership with Championship side Bradford (Bowling head coach Ryan Hunkin also leads Bulls’ scholarship system), they can get academy players from the Odsal outfit, as well as scoop up those who are from the city but get released by other high-profile clubs.
Dudley Hill and Albion have thriving youth set-ups too, but now the challenge is to make sure that is eventually reflected in their open age sides.
And something that can never be called into question is the dedication that goes into clubs off the field.
Queensbury opened their brand-new clubhouse at the weekend, and have turned it into a hub for the community, which will benefit many.
Elsewhere, Bolu Fagborun is now on the voluntary advisory board at Bulls as corporate social responsibility director.
He is also a development officer for local community club Birkenshaw Blue Dogs, and has overseen an impressive recruitment of young girls coming to play for the club in the last 12 months.
His presence at Bulls will hopefully see Birkenshaw build their links with John Kear’s side in the coming months.
There are countless feelgood stories like that in the sport, so it would be false to say it’s all doom and gloom.
But on the field, at open age level in particular, there are still big problems.
Rugby league is often derided for being “the M62 game”, but unless more is done to keep players interested and involved in the sport, it might not even have that tag any more in a few years.
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