There is not much more I can add to the comments already made about our Challenge Cup win over Keighley that haven’t already been said.

Suffice to say, we won and at least we escaped with injuries kept to a minimum. With every match we learn more and more about individuals and combinations and certainly you learn more in adversity.

I’d like to pay full credit to Keighley for their efforts. Of course they raised their game, as they jolly well would, but they performed strongly throughout.

They scored tries at important times to keep their energies up which kept the game very much alive. If we had shown a little more composure in that first half and bagged some of the chances we missed, it might have been different.

I am sure it will have made for great television for the BBC but that frankly is not our principal concern. We got home and we have all learnt from it.

The reward of course is a wonderful home tie against old friends and rivals from Featherstone. We pipped them in game one of the season in a 50/50 game so they will travel full of confidence next week.

Anything resembling our performance in the last round will see us roundly bounced out of the competition which is not our intention. We will need to front with a strong side, and our game faces on.

Before then we welcome Dewsbury Rams to Odsal in another tight-looking tussle. We edged past Dewsbury on the way to our Yorkshire Cup triumph, but they were our equal that night in every department.

In chairman Mark Sawyer they have one of the most astute individuals in rugby league, someone who year after year constructs a very creditable squad that never looks out of place in the Championship.

That he does so and balances the books on attendances of marginally over a 1000 does him and his coaching colleagues immense credit.

Recently they added Liam Finn to their roster, someone who would walk into virtually any Championship side. Dewsbury also have former Bulls player Paul Sykes in their squad, but he may well be unavailable through suspension and injury.

I know I say this every week but Sunday really is an important game for us in terms of our aspirations.

We are moving into the second quarter with fixtures against Halifax, Barrow and Rochdale before we head for Toronto. Our performances, and more importantly our results, through this period will strongly signal our prospects at the end of the season. So, thank you to all who turn out and support our club as we strive to improve.

On the wider rugby league front the big story of the week is the decision of RFL, Super League and World Cup chairman Brian Barwick not to offer himself for re-election at the RFL’s AGM.

That must have been a tough conclusion for him to reach. And I applaud him for it. In fact, I would so far as to say it is the best decision he has taken in my time in the country. Let me be explicit, I have no axe to grind with Brian Barwick, not at all. No doubt his long history in sport would provide many entertaining anecdotes to light up the right occasion.

I can however only go on my own experience as to what has happened to the RFL over the past 12 months and how their circumstances have changed since I decided to invest in the sport in this country.

I’ve sat in meetings where he has sat impassively while his organisation has been gratuitously savaged by some chairmen without a murmur, yet then he has attempted to scold Championship clubs, saying they weren’t working hard enough. Numerous invitations to set out his vision for the sport have been met with silence and a blank stare. Undoubtedly, he will have his reasons.

In my assessment, as a former chairman of the New Zealand Rugby League, and former International Federation director, the last 12 months has seen the systematic undermining of the RFL as the governing body of the sport - with considerable power dressed up as commercial autonomy being granted to a private limited company.

Little to none of the promised commercial benefits of this so called focused approach have actually been accrued, to date at least, and I am told that some of the instigators of this division are now having regrets but feel unable to speak out publicly.

But at least we have got some very debatable tweaks to the on-field rules, like shot clocks and golden points to celebrate? Wherever the truth lies, I do worry that the interests of the wider sport might now have been irrecoverably split.

Having said all that, I am however pleased that the RFL have found a respectful landing for Barwick with a newly constructed president's role for the World Cup until 2021.

Whatever your assessment of his performance, his status in UK sport seems high enough given his previous roles in soccer, so it may well be right up his street. I hope that it works out for all concerned. Good luck Brian on your new path.

The challenge is now on for the RFL board and, dare I suggest or least hope, its owners, the membership, to secure a blue ribbon replacement. Someone who has got a positive vision for the sport, someone who can heal some of the fissures that undoubtedly exist and someone who can support the executive and CEO Ralph Rimmer in addressing the challenges that are very apparent.

For a sport that is not awash with riches or investors for that matter, with significant social and technological changes to deal with, there is plenty to go at.

We need someone competent, conscientious and passionate with integrity and independence. I am no supporter of quotas, but wouldn’t it be a breath of fresh if one of the sports industry's talented women could be persuaded to have a good look at the role.

In the meantime, back to more local matters and let’s hope for some mild weather to see us take on the Dewsbury Rams.

Please get along to see your team battle it out on Sunday. We need to tackle Lee Greenwood’s men head on with the help of the best fans in rugby league.

Kick off at Odsal is at 3pm, with our curtain raiser being our opening Super League Women’s match against Featherstone Rovers, which kicks off at 12.30pm. Good luck to our ladies team and fingers crossed for the double!

Don’t forget to check out our helpful game day guide. Get your tickets from the Bulls club shop or online at www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/tickets. #COYB #BullsNation