THE owners of Bradford's new rugby league club have been officially named as Andrew Chalmers and Graham Lowe.

The New Zealand pair have confirmed they are the new club's owners after flying in from their home country yesterday.

They now have just under three weeks to get the club ready for its opening game against Hull Kingston Rovers on February 5.

Mr Chalmers is a former head of New Zealand Rugby League, and Graham Lowe is a former New Zealand coach.

Mr Chalmers and Mr Lowe met with Rohan Smith this afternoon to discuss the future of the new club.

Speaking following the meeting, Andrew Chalmers, said: “There were various points that both parties disagreed on and it was decided that both the club and the former coach of Bradford Bulls would not move forward together.”

Mr Lowe, himself a former Queensland State of Origin Coach, acknowledges Rohan’s contribution to the Bradford Bulls since joining in May 2016.

Mr Lowe said: “I fully understand the difficulties faced by the club and I know it has been a tough few months for Rohan. We appreciate all he did for the Bradford Bulls and the support he has given the playing group.

“We are focused on bringing in a new proven and experienced coach as soon as possible and that recruitment process is underway. We expect to provide an update on this shortly.”

They met with 25 players late yesterday, along with interim management and coaching staff.

Mr Chalmers said: “I am delighted that we have been given the opportunity to create what we hope will be a strong and stable club in Bradford.

"The history and tradition of Rugby League in this great city is something we are both very aware of.

“We are under no illusion of the enormity of the task that is ahead of us and that it is our job to win the trust of supporters and deliver a club that they are proud of.

"One of our first commitments to the Rugby Football League was that all season tickets for the 2017 season that have already been purchased by Bradford Bulls supporters would be honoured by the new club.

“We understand that there has been some criticism of the process and others are of course entitled to their views, but I want to make clear that at every stage the RFL have provided us with the detail and scrutiny that we expected for such an important decision.

“We are both really excited about the strength of the high performance academy and the long term pathway opportunities that flow from this.

"We understand that this is a frustrating time for fans who want to know what is happening but I can assure you that we are working long hours with all interested parties to cover a lot of ground.

"We are aware of the hunger for information and we will update our position on a daily basis as and when we are able.

“A lot of work is required in a short space of time and we anticipate a lot of exciting announcements to follow in the coming days and weeks.”

Fellow Kiwi Mr Lowe, said: “We do not see this as a quick fix and we will work through the immediate issue of offering full-time playing contracts to the team.

"This is expected to be accomplished in the next 48 hours and following that we will look at bolstering the playing squad as necessary to replace those players who have secured contracts elsewhere.”