Bradford director Ferres slams dual reg system

Bradford Bullls managing director Steve Ferres has revealed that his club are considering cutting the size of their squad from next season, largely because of the dual registration system.

The Bulls have sent a number of fringe players out on loan in recent times, with others playing for Oxford on dual registration.

A propsed partnership with Coventry Bears also failed to kick into life properly.

Ferres belives that the whole system needs to be changed, in order to properly install a development pathway for youngsters.

“I don’t agree with the dual-reg system because clubs like ourselves are spending money, whereas other clubs can just bring players in on dual-reg which can be detrimental to the teams they are playing,” he told the Bradford Telegraph & Argus.

“It’s unfair because it penalises the teams who are striving to achieve success – therefore it is flawed and it needs a rethink.

“We’ve got about 30 players and some have been used, some others haven’t been used, which you always get.

“But the likelihood is that we won’t run with such a big squad next year because of the problems with getting them a decent amount of game-time at the right level.”

The lack of a proper reserve grade competition is also something that he would like to see addressed.

“I’m pretty sure if we had a reserve-grade side then it would work a lot better and be more structured, while allowing us to produce more players and retain more players,” he added.

“There are a lot of things that need to be looked at – the whole strategy of the game with regards to its structure.”