From the outside looking in, is there a possibility that this is some kind of strategic thinking? That they're getting wind that the case might not go their way, so they adopt a strategy that offers some protection or buffer in the event that they are hit with an immediate demand for £350,000, given that the application is to wind the business up? It messes up next season but somehow preserves the club for longer than that?
I said it earlier this year, but the mess is partly the fault of the Middle 8 system. How can a club budget for the season? If they aspire to compete with the Super League clubs, they have to spend money. Without a big backer, if they don't make the Middle 8's, they are screwed.
What the middle 8's will become is whipping fodder for the Super League clubs, all building to a one-off game at the end of it. For teams like Batley and Fev, it's just an unexpected financial boost before the whipping. Leigh are an exception because of their financial clout and what was, pretty much, a bottom half Super League team. A club like Bradford either end up settling for the Championship by budgeting for failure, or else risk going bang when they don't make the four.
