WHAT a terrific boost for the club on Boxing Day with a superb and valiant effort by the lads against Super League Castleford Tigers.

All who attended were treated to a grafting workmanlike display by the young Bulls and few in the crowd could claim that the Bulls didn’t deserve the spoils.

I am sure that many didn’t predict that outcome and I am sure many who travelled did so more in hope than expectation.

No one is getting carried away. Pre-season matches are funny things. Everyone says they don’t matter and, of course, they don’t as far as league points or trophy lifts are concerned.

Read more: Sam Smith thrilled to make senior Bulls debut

They also pitch together sides that may be at different places in their own pre-season preparations, so you really don’t know what to expect.

But, having said that, nobody likes to lose and the win, however gained, has given a real confidence boost to all at the club.

So a hearty well done to the players and coaches and those supporters who made the effort and were rewarded with a very pleasant Boxing Day outing.

A special note to the debutants, who wore the red, amber and black for the first time.

All performed with great credit and they offered much promise. That said recruitment for the season is not over yet.

The club is working hard to build additional depth to the squad within the constraints of the salary cap we have been limited to.

Attention now turns to the weekend fixture on January 5, at Hunslet. This is a match promised by the previous management of the club as part of the transfer of George Flanagan in 2018, which is why it didn’t originally feature as part of the pre-season schedule.

We are happy though to honour that commitment and hope Hunslet get a good attendance to boost their finances.

The South Leeds side have a long and proud tradition and we wish them well in their endeavour to keep the rugby league flag flying south of the River Aire.

A week later we provide the opposition in the Jamie Jones Buchanan Testimonial match, a fixture that has assumed a totally different perspective since it was announced that JJB would be sharing the proceeds with the Robbie Burrow Fund in view of the very sad, indeed tragic, news regarding the great Leeds half-back.

The response from the rugby league family has been overwhelming and we at the Bulls feel privileged to be making a contribution, on and off the field, to what will be a hugely poignant day.

Whatever some people may try to argue, the Leeds club have been great friends of the Bulls over the past few years, and the event gives us a chance to show our respect for both players and the Leeds club.

We have just three executive tables left for anyone who wants to attend the match in the newly-built Emerald Suite and we urge any supporters who wish to avail themselves of these few remaining places to contact Tracey Erby for full details.

As we move in 2020 our minds are turning to the future and in particular to working with both the Council and the RFL to explore the art of the possible.

Having met both parties in the week before Christmas we are reassured that both want the Bulls to be back in Bradford, as indeed do we.

There are no easy solutions yet and we will continue to work with both parties, and others, to explore all options available to us.

Returning to Bradford is our priority. To that end we have launched the BBBB campaign……which stands for Bringing the Bulls Back to Bradford.

Businesses receive a wonderful basket of benefits if they sign up at a token figure of £50 per month.

We will be having a real push in the first months of 2020 and the launch of the revamped website will feature it heavily.

This scheme directly helps the club financially but, as importantly, it demonstrates to the politicians that Bradford business and Bradford people really care about the Bradford Bulls.

Perhaps our greatest New Year wish, though, is that the club starts getting a fair crack in certain parts of the media.

For the past two months, every week, one or two schoolyard journalists and anonymous keyboard warriors have been reporting the allegedly growing clamour, from apparently numerous clubs, for an investigation into our club.

In-so-doing this has spread destructive doubt and uncertainty as to the future prospects for the club.

Of course these reports were in the main unattributed and unaccountable, generated by individuals with some form of axe to grind.

However when the sport’s supreme body, the RFL Council Meeting took place, with all clubs and members present, precisely four individuals choose to speak asking for some form of investigation out of a membership of over 40.

Clearly not the growing clamour that some would have had us believe.

Perhaps post the meeting you would expect that basic journalistic integrity would demand that this truthful position to be fairly and proportionately reported, yet there is silence from those who peddled these myths.

Worse still, at a time when the club has made a number of positive announcements, we were still treated to a full page by one person predicting the club’s impending demise; without, for the record, the courtesy of the club being contacted for a comment, as is the protocol with professional journalists.

Anyway enough time and energy has been expended on this rubbish.

The club will continue to move forward, steadfastly seeking to rebuild its position with the rugby league family, keeping our promises and winning the trust of all who support your club.