HAVE YOUR SAY: Bantams latest to join growing list of potential suitors for Bulls

Far from it. As the parent of a young family, the Bradford City joint-chairman readily concedes he has a battle on getting away to see his football club in action, let alone a rugby league team they might possibly end up buying.

It remains to be seen whether City do purchase the Bradford Bulls, a union that has been discussed on plenty of occasions in the past but one few thought would ever come to fruition.

But, with a 5pm deadline later this afternoon for all final bids for the beleaguered Super League club, Rhodes and City do have a concrete offer on the table.

“We just want to see if we can help,” he told the Yorkshire Post.

“Things aren’t looking great for them so we spoke to the RFL and administrator last Friday and outlined how we could make an unconditional bid and left them to think about it.

“They’ve asked for some more details and we’ll provide them.

“All we’re saying is, if there’s no other alternatives we can help keep them alive. That’s what we’ll do. We don’t want to see the Bulls die. And I can assure the RFL if we did get them, they’d be a very well-run business.”

There has been a flurry of interest of late, though, with administrator Brendan Guilfoyle saying there could be as many as five bids for the governing body to deliberate over.

It is all a far cry from this time last week but it appears Super League Europe’s surprise bid then has put belief in others that the Bulls are a worthy cause.

Guilfoyle had, of course, threatened liquidation three times but now it seems the “conditional” offers that the RFL rebuffed – due to guarantees about Super League safety and being able to buy back the Odsal lease – are returning as “unconditional.”

That is certainly the case with Omar Khan, the curry house owner whom in alliance with Bradford South MP Gerry Sutcliffe, has formally rejoined the process.

Rhodes added: “We are hearing now about a lot of unconditional offers coming in.

“If anyone else has got the means to take it on then we probably will take a step back.

“After all, we have plenty of work to be done at the football club which has always been mine and Mark’s (Lawn) No 1 priority.

“But we are there.

“We wouldn’t be spending loads of money. We don’t do that at Bradford City. We run things properly and are very prudent.

“That’s what we’d do with the Bulls, whether they are in Super League or the Championship.

“It is a bit of a mess to start with but the administration process helps that as we know with City having been there twice.”

But the question on everyone’s lips is, if successful, will there be a ground-share at some point in the future?

“It could be either and I’d like to keep those options open,” added Rhodes.

“But it’s highly unlikely it’d be up at Odsal. Let’s not beat around the bush; we’ve got an expensive stadium which is fit for purpose in Super League.

“If the Bulls end up in the Championship, there’d be some work to do but we’d take it on unconditionally and run it properly wherever they’re playing.

“As for the fans, I’d like to think there could be a bit more of a cross-over between rugby league supporters and the football, but that is all way down the line and, my gut feeling is, the Bulls will go to someone else.”

That could yet be Khan as Sutcliffe told the Yorkshire Post: “Omar has put in an unconditional bid and, what we’ve been told, it’s now in a queue with other bids.

“The administrator will pass it on to the RFL Board who will make a decision.

“If we’re successful then fine but all we want is someone to be successful with Bradford Bulls and if it’s not us then so be it.

“I understand that the clubs are all going to get together on August 23 to discuss what will happen next.

Guilfoyle, meanwhile, had come in for criticism for not facilitating a purchase sooner and even preparing a way for former chairman Chris Caisley to return.

“There’s been some suggestion – which keeps lingering – that I’ve been less than open and have been making it really hard for people to make sure that Caisley buys the club back,” he said.

“But I’m trying to demonstrate here that there’s absolutely no truth in that – I’ve spoken to 13 different sets of people and now have three unconditional offers for the RFL to consider.”

The ABC consortium, who have made two previous conditional bids, has withdrawn although Guilfoyle says they may return.

He added: “Any purchaser is taking a chance on whether the club will be continuing in the Super League or playing in the Championship next season.

“If it’s the latter then the owner will still be paying Super League wages for up to 20 players for the next year.

“As well as paying rent to the RFL for Odsal any new owner will probably have to make capital investment in the ground before the next round of Super League franchise bids in 2015.”

RFL director of standards and licensing Blake Solly said: “It is clear that the decisive and bold actions of Super League (Europe) Ltd have prompted this latest interest.

“The Super League clubs’ view that Bradford Bulls are an attractive proposition to would-be buyers has been re-affirmed and we remain cautiously optimistic the club can find suitable new owners in the near future.

“We have also been contacted by other parties and, as you would expect, these groups will also be given the opportunity to set out their vision for rugby league in Bradford.

“The board continues to be receptive to unconditional offers and is keen to bring to an end the uncertainty surrounding the future of Bradford Bulls and the wider sport.”