Any new Bradford rugby club faces "a race against time to start the Championship season" after the Rugby Football League confirmed talks to relaunch "could run beyond next week," according to Gareth Walker of the London DAILY MIRROR. The governing body has set a Monday noon deadline for "prospective new owners to come forward" -- and has "already received" 10 expressions of interest. The RFL will then enter into talks with "the most serious bidders, and hopes to conclude those before the end of the week." But the organization has conceded "it could run beyond that -- leaving any new club with less than three weeks to get a team on the field" for the Championship opener at Hull KR on Feb. 5. The squad from the liquidated Bradford Bulls "is already being picked apart by rivals, with back rower Tom Olbison set for a move to Widnes." Salary cap dispensations will be given to clubs signing players from the old Bulls squad, "and their overseas players will not count on the quota." Coach Rohan Smith has confirmed he would "like to be involved with the new club if he feels he is compatible with the new owners" (DAILY MIRROR, 1/4).
