THERE was news reported this week suggesting that two Super League club chairman were intent on buying our home here at Odsal Stadium.

I had to check the calendar to see if it was April Fool’s Day, but alas it’s actually late December!

I simply didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Why on earth should Wakefield Trinity chairman Michael Carter or Hull KR chairman Neil Hudgell be bothering themselves with the affairs of our club?

I cannot find any plausible or, should I say innocent, explanation to any of it. Our fans are bewildered and in the main smell a rat.

I have to say I too am bewildered. You would think they both have enough on their plates, trying to improve their own clubs circumstances rather than busying themselves in our club affairs.

Certainly when Graham Lowe and I agreed to rescue professional rugby league in Bradford at the end of 2016, it wasn’t an easy decision.

There had been three failures from earlier managements in previous clubs and, as I understand it, there was not a queue of willing and capable owners expressing interest.

Only the RFL know the precise situation, but I have been told that at the end of the day, only two credible bids could be considered and one of those would have been based upon a supporters trust model, with next to zero capital being invested upfront. To date, we have made a significant investment to provide stability for all the stakeholders.

When completing due diligence, we enquired about the status of the ground and were told the RFL had acquired the leasehold interest sometime earlier to protect a very historic rugby league venue.

We were assured that the RFL’s motivation was totally intended to be supportive of professional rugby league here in Bradford and it was one of the key factors in persuading us to take on the resurrection of this great club.

Pretty soon after that I received enquiries from more than one Wakefield board member asking whether they could use the stadium in 2017.

They apparently do not own their own ground and wanted to put pressure on their own council to progress with an apparently promised, but long overdue, stadium actually in Wakefield. Nothing came of the discussion.

In fact, I understand that the Wakefield ground was then put up for sale but remarkably the Wakefield Trinity owners chose not to buy it.

Now we hear reports that they want to buy Odsal Stadium! It is as bizarre as it is bewildering.

Rather than creeping around making clandestine approaches to the RFL, Mr Carter should explain his actions. I am sure his own club supporters would like to know and I am certain Bulls supporters deserve to know.

If he truly has that kind of dosh to invest in rugby league perhaps he should start by investing to create his own 'Super League quality facility' in Wakefield.

Hull KR’s chairman Hudgell's reported involvement is even less understandable. In one of the first club meetings after taking over here, Hudgell tore into our club, offering a view that Bradford Bulls had been given far too many chances already with much more besides.

I have no idea where the opprobrium emanates from or why. Maybe he is trying to knock the Bulls out for good to protect his investment in Hull KR? I simply don’t know.

But at a time when he has floodlight pylons falling down, I think he has enough on his own plate without involving himself in our ground 80 miles away.

Having visited Hull KR’s home set-up, I found it to be a solid if unspectacular ground.

The club has clearly and commendably improved what looked like a pretty basic original facility but it could be considered to be incapable of further investment to make the spectator experience better – much like our own venue by the way. Except a significant full-scale ground redevelopment at Odsal would be an interesting proposition for the City of Bradford and for the tens of thousands who will grace its terraces and stands.

But this isn’t about who has the bigger or better ground or better potential. The question is why are two Super League chairman apparently conspiring to take ownership of a stadium of another RFL member club?

Unlike previous regimes I have never sounded off about the ground situation, never made a promise I couldn’t fulfil and never said acquiring the ground from the RFL was a priority.

I do believe clubs should try – if they can – to own their own grounds, to own their own real estate.

I admire Headingley as an example of how to do things the right way, rather than Wigan or Hull where, despite claims to be heavyweights, they cannot even get on their own pitches at their own discretion.

I want all our fans and stakeholders to know that I am not content with our arrangements at Odsal Stadium.

I truly understand that it is historic, I get reminded every day that it once housed over 102,000 in a cup final, and I do think that old lady Odsal is not only iconic but represents part of history, marked with inter-generations of fans – all doing their time on the famous terraces.

To think, we get asked by fans if they can be married in the stadium, and then of course those fans whose wakes are held there, or those who requested their ashes be sprinkled on our hallowed turf when their time on this earth has come to an end.

I believe our club and Odsal stadium are inextricably linked in a truly deep, emotional and maybe a spiritual way.

The Maori have a word to describe this – turangawaewae. Turangawaewae is one of the most well-known and powerful Maori concepts.

Literally turanga (standing place), waewae (feet) it is often translated as 'a place to stand'. Turangawaewae are places where we feel especially empowered and connected.

Odsal is our turangawaewae – our foundation, our place in the world, our home, where we belong. Our heaven on earth.