Jon Wells and Brian Carney look at why the RFL have rejected a new offer to buy Bradford Bulls.

The Rugby Football League have rejected an amended offer from the ABC consortium to buy the Bulls, re-affirming their stance over the conditions of the offer.

The governing body last week said that they were unwilling to accept any offer that would contain conditions relating to guarantees over the Super League future of the Bulls.

After an initial bid was turned down, the RFL has responded to an amendment to the offer to purchase the club from the administration by informing them their unconditional offer cannot be accepted - a decision that Wells believes could mean the end of the Bulls.

"No one is going to be happy taking on a Super League club without a guarantee that they will remain a Super League Club - at least until the time they have been given," explained Wells on Boots 'n' All.

"The RFL seemingly being against any sort of conditional offers seems to have signed the death warrant for the Bradford Bulls. I hope that is not the case but it seems to be the way we are going.

"Super League status is the crux of the matter. It is the pinnacle of our sport and is where potential investors will be looking to invest. They will not invest if they do not have the guarantee that they have that top level status."

More trust needed

Blake Sully, RFL director of Standards and Licensing believes that Bradford are in the same position that was faced by Widnes in 2007 when both were taken over without any guarantee as to which competition they would be playing in. However Brian Carney believes there is more to it than that and wants to know why Sully did not mention the Crusaders.

"I am not sure who can come in and buy a club unconditionally. Blake Sully referred to Wakefield and Widnes but he neglected to mention the Crusaders. When the Crusaders went into admin, I wonder if the new owners made an unconditional offer to take over the club.

"Did they make the offer on condition that the Crusaders stayed in Super League? The name Crusaders is noticeable by its absence when Wakefield and Widnes are mentioned.

"Steve O'Connor went in and took over Widnes and had to take a lot of pain in the lower divisions before he got the chance to go back into SL. Andrew Glover took over at the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and did get the licence when the Crusaders dropped out.

"There seems to be a lack of trust, the RFL does not seems to have any faith is these consortiums."