THERE can only be one place to start this week and that is to pay tribute to the former Bradford master coach Peter Fox whose death was announced at the age of 85.

Peter had two spells as coach of our club and was particularly successful during the first when the club won league titles and other trophies.

Foxy, also coached other clubs around the league and Great Britain and importantly for him, the Yorkshire County side, during a long and distinguished career but his association with our club was probably his defining role in the sport.

He certainly knew how to assemble quality sides and built the then Northern side in the late 70s recruiting players from around the league, notably his former club Featherstone Rovers, to construct a Championship-winning side, featuring among other former Bulls administrator Steve Ferres.

His second spell as club coach ended just before the creation of the Super League and summer rugby in slightly acrimonious circumstances, but he will forever be associated by supporters of a certain age as bringing the good times to an often bleak Odsal.

Peter was renowned for his forthright opinions and was a media favourite with little time for cautious media spin.

Plain and straightforward. He was certainly regarded as a players' coach as the numerous tributes from former players amply testifies.

Peter, of course, comes from the wonderful trio of Fox brothers which also included Don and Neil. Both of his brothers were Lance Todd trophy winners in their own right and Peter also enjoyed Wembley success, as coach of Featherstone.

He often referred to himself as being a pale imitation on the field of Don and Neil, and it was coaching where his rugby league skills mostly came to the fore, moulding often unspectacular groups of players into champion teams…..surely the acid test for any aspiring coach.

So thank you Peter, for all you have done towards building the history of this club. I know the Bulls fans this weekend will observe our own tribute to you magnificently.

Meanwhile, the other major event of the week is the apparent rescue of relegated Super League club Widnes Vikings.

The club unfortunately entered administration which triggered the compulsory 12-point deduction, and there was a time when the very future of the club was apparently under threat of liquidation.

Fortunately it looks like they will continue under new ownership and we wish them well. The truth rarely emerges about club insolvencies, why they happened and why ownership doesn’t simply transfer without debts being written off, who is negotiating from what position and so forth.

People look for villains to castigate, without understanding the facts and this appears to be the case for a club that was financially stable for the previous decade in Super League but then had an upheaval to navigate, without an ownership group capable or willing to fund the organisation.

What I think will became clear is that the club could not shrink the cost base quickly enough following relegation from Super League last year despite a huge parachute payment. A problem with disturbing similarities for Leigh Centurions. One wonders what fate awaits the club finishing last in Super League this year?

Undoubtedly one of the questions Championship member clubs will now ask is what will happen to the new Widnes clubs central distribution for the remainder of this year.

This new, debt-free entity, for that is what it is, surely cannot benefit from the substantial advantage of being the highest-ranked club in terms of financial distribution in Championship, in fact around five times greater than that the Bulls currently receive. Something really needs to be looked at here. We already have the ridiculous, position of 'relegated' Rochdale who were reprieved under the end-of-season jiggery pokery, receiving more financial distribution than our own club, properly and fairly promoted into the Championship.

On to tomorrow as we welcome Toulouse to Odsal Stadium.

I’ve nothing against Toulouse or Catalans or for that matter Toronto, but the RFL and Super League simply have to make sense of a situation where well over £2 million a year, of British rugby league-generated commercial money, is flowing freely over the channel for precisely nothing in return.

Well nothing that I can see. Maybe there are secret discussions going on and plans being formed but the position appears utterly unsustainable.

I’m certainly a supporter of expanding the game to foreign shores, but (a) only if the foreign clubs are all required to pay their own way, (b) clearly able to demonstrate that they add value to the other RFL member clubs, and (c) those foreign clubs can demonstrate long term financial sustainability.

A scenario that only the Toronto Wolfpack and owner David Argyle are currently subjected to.

I genuinely believe that funding foreign-based clubs is a mistake and misuse of British money, especially at a time when some RFL member clubs steeped in history, and adored by intergenerational fans, are having to live from hand to mouth and quite literally fight off the liquidator at the door.

It’s time for the games decision makers to refocus on business and sporting models where clubs can exist sustainably.

I’m not saying any one group or specific individuals are to blame for this ludicrous situation – what I’m saying is that the RFL Board, and the Super League executive need to step forward show some leadership on this prickly situation and sort it out.

No doubt exists in my mind, that many Super League club owners will use this opportunity to propose that a licensing model, that is a world devoid of promotion and relegation, is their preferred answer.

I can see a time when the turkeys will vote to cancel Christmas. It’s not a question of if but when.

Then watch the inevitable interest in the privatisation of Super League similar to the CVC Capital Partners £200m deal with Premier Rugby Limited for a 27 per cent stake, valuing the rugby flagship at a minimum of £740m.

Given it was a minority stake, I think the total value of Premier Rugby will be north of a billion pounds. This would mean not only do you end up with SLEXIT, but the slavish enrichment of those in the first class carriage. Perhaps that’s the British way?

Regardless, the Bradford Bulls will keep striving to do its best on the field and in the community.

At the end of the day, the club will exist because the army of fans want it to.

Please get along to show your support and cheer your Bulls team at Odsal Stadium as we taken on highly-fancied Toulouse, kick-off is Sunday, 3pm.

Tickets available in the club shop or online at bradfordbulls.co.uk/tickets #COYB #BullsNation