What a fantastic Sunday afternoon last weekend at Batley. It was everything we hoped it would be, and more.

The Bulls support was magnificent and our loyal fans created a wonderful noise throughout. This support lifted the boys in what was a tight and physically tough struggle.

I am so pleased for everyone at the club, from the dressing room, the office blocks and on the terraces, who have been around longest and borne witness to far too many disappointments over the recent past.

Nothing succeeds like success and I don’t care what anyone says, the Yorkshire Cup victory put a definite smile on peoples' faces and a spring in the step of everyone connected with the club.

No one pretends that winning a pre-season Yorkshire Cup is going to change the world, but it does represent a small but important step. Just as winning the League One play-off last year against Workington did.

I am acutely aware that the club has had too many false dawns over the last five years. Everything we do, big or small is about the club keeping our promises.

Today we welcome big spending Toronto to Odsal. What a phenomenal story they have been and enormous credit goes to majority owner David Argyle for turning the dream into a reality.

The Wolfpack had a recent wobble but despite this they are still the bookies favourites to get promoted. So the match is important.

Given the comprehensive pre-season programme, I know John Kear will be rotating and fine-tuning the team for this Transatlantic Cup Challenge.

Fortunately he gets the benefit of a large squad with plenty of depth, and today is a significant benchmark against a fully-fit Wolfpack, fresh from their Hull KR hit out.

Toronto unfortunately have been victim to the incomprehensible RFL strategy towards overseas involvement and they have been bounced out of the Challenge Cup.

Until recently the same fate was expected to have befallen current holders Catalans Dragons but sensibly the RFL have found a route to reverse out of that slow motion disaster.

Which of course begs the obvious question, why aren’t Toronto and Toulouse also back in? Why haven’t these two clubs been afforded the same opportunity?

In the end the Bulls support the inclusion of Toronto and Toulouse, but like everything they would need to meet the participation terms set down for Catalans.

The inconsistent treatment of the RFL guest clubs will never be satisfactory until they are all operating on a consistent basis.

I have banged on about the need for all overseas clubs to pay their own way. Ultimately they must not be permitted to take more money out of the British game than what they generate.

British clubs are subsidising the development of rugby league in other countries – with no tangible financial pay-off. Can you imagine the French rugby union putting a rugby union team in Bradford, and then paying for it to compete in a French domestic competition?

That’s why a Toronto team paying their way makes the most practical sense. I get the feeling in looking at some of the comments from the Super League aficionados they are all trying to relive a love affair with France or Spain. What a load of bull. Let’s see who, if anyone, grasps that particularly thorny nettle.

Toronto have also been the driving force behind increasing the TV coverage of the Championship last year and this year, and are no doubt picking up a fair bill for the privilege. They have recognised that sport generally has to embrace the digital world and TV coverage, and the wider exposure that it brings.

Marketing isn’t a 'nice' to have, it is essential. People have too many choices and options to be taken for granted.

I keep hearing about how the Bulls is massive club and the how packed the terraces used to be. Well I’d salute that flag any day of the week, but it won’t just happen by accident and it will take more than pure success on field.

David Argyle recognises that owning a sports franchise is 90 per cent about fan engagement and exposure. And he is right. Too many clubs, including those in the Championship, don’t make any investment in the marketing of their events and match-day experiences. It’s a foolish strategy with commercial failure written all over it.

If the antics and greed of last year are anything to go by, everyone at Championship level needs to wake up and understand that every club has to pull their weight. It is not acceptable to dine out all the time without eventually taking your turn to pay!

I know the Bulls are seen as a big club by others in the league and I want to stress that I absolutely believe in the strength of the whole division. But clubs playing in front of the low hundreds, bringing no away support and little profile won’t have a future in the professional ranks. But that is for others to solve. In the meantime we will work constructively with any and everyone who wants our league to prosper.

Meanwhile I see that the ex-UK administrator Maurice Lindsay weighed into the Super League governance debate last week, calling the current system of having one director from each of the 12 top-flight clubs on the Super League board 'amateurish'.

He went on to say, what I have been saying for months, that there are conflicts of interest all over the place, with club directors placing their own club interests ahead of the needs of the wider sport. Spot on Maurice.

It is a ludicrous and misguided solution instigated by those who clearly sought more personal power and influence. It won’t last, it can’t. The only question is how much damage is done to the wider game before sanity is restored.

The fact remains, the essential but inconvenient truth is of 12 clubs all pulling in their own directions, each with their own selfish objectives. What an omni-shambles. And how utterly unforgivable of the RFL Board to collaborate in bringing it to pass.

Next week we get on to the league proper and a great blockbuster home tie against the redoubtable Featherstone Rovers. They have been bobbing around the top four Championship clubs for the past few years, recruiting well and developing players.

They are a tough round one opponent for us and I have no doubt it will be an absolute humdinger. I see they have been busy recruiting as well in the southern hemisphere, with a few lads from Papua New Guinea and a new Australian coach in Ryan Carr.

But first things first, see you at our Transatlantic Challenge today against the Toronto Wolfpack. Kick-off is 2pm, Odsal Stadium.

This will be our toughest fixture yet, and against the bookies favourite for promotion. Please get along and support your 2019 Yorkshire Cup champions. #COYB.