Robbie Hunter-Paul believes this week’s fans’ forum was the first step towards rebuilding the Bulls as he announced that no players or staff had yet departed.

Supporters were told of the club’s dire financial position at Wednesday’s forum as it was revealed that savings of £400,000 must be made during the next 12 months.

It was announced that a number of Francis Cummins’ players could possibly leave to ease the financial burden and that administration and backroom staff would also go.

While Hunter-Paul admitted that jobs would be lost in the coming days, he said none had occurred as yet in any department.

Brett Kearney confirmed he would be returning in January after heading back to Australia for Christmas early due to an injury which has sidelined him.

Chief executive Hunter-Paul explained: “Nobody has made any contact with me regarding players as yet but I don’t expect there to be big departures anyway.

“It will probably be one or two players at the most – even if it is one or two.

“A lot of Super League clubs are at their full quota of players anyway and it wouldn’t be possible for them to bring in new players.”

Hunter-Paul admitted the year ahead would be tough as the club look to make huge savings.

But he insisted significant progress had been made with regards to relationships with existing sponsors and potential new ones, giving the club vital cash injections.

“I think Wednesday night was the first step in taking the club back where it belongs,” said Hunter-Paul.

“For a lot of people it would have felt like rock-bottom – but it’s not because during the untangling over the past six weeks, we’ve also been working towards bringing in new income and building everything back up.

“I can confidently say that next season we will have a brand new portfolio of
sponsors on the playing shirts, which is going to deliver probably the biggest cash value the Bulls has ever seen.

“This is a big club and a big city with a lot of brilliant opportunities here.

“A lot of fans said to me at the forum ‘I bet you wish you hadn’t come back to the club?’
“But I’m the opposite. The past four months have been tough, don’t get me wrong, and they have tested me.

“But I’ve learnt so much from the experience and I’ve grown as a person.

“I’m a competitor and I proved that when I was a player. I’m up for the
challenge.”

Meanwhile, the club’s previous regime are understood to be considering a response to the claims made by the current board of directors.

Mark Moore, Ian Watt and Andrew Calvert claimed in a statement that “as each day goes by the board continues to receive more information detrimental to the stability of the business”.

* Sponsors Provident Personal Credit are standing by the Bulls ahead of the 2014 Super League
campaign.

A spokesperson for the Bradford-based firm said: “Everyone at Provident has enjoyed the first year of our partnership with Bulls enormously.

“We are pleased to see the new board of directors, Robbie and his staff working hard behind the scenes to give the club the solid foundations it needs to secure its long-term future.”