Dave Craven: Another winter of change at Bulls as Lynch and Raynor exit

The departure of Andy Lynch and Gareth Raynor come from very different reasons but their loss will be similarly felt.

Captain Lynch has not only been one of Bradford’s most consistent players during his seven years at Odsal but one of Super League’s as well.

Hard-working and durable, the prop has, at times, almost carried the Bulls on his own during their recent travails.

Desperately unlucky to miss out to a cameo-playing Adrian Morley when the Bulls won the Grand Final in 2005, it had been simply bad-timing which has seen the selfless forward feature just as the once glorious club began to lose its lustre.

It says plenty about his pedigree though that new Hull FC owner Adam Pearson has been willing to part with around £100,000 to secure Lynch a release from the final year of his contract at Odsal even though he turns 32 next month.

The former Castleford Tigers star, whose international involvement would have been much greater if not for the presence of Morley, James Peacock and James Graham, is seen as a crucial investment in helping take the Airlie Birds to a new level and it would be fitting if he could lift some silverware in the twilight of his career.

It is remarkable that a World Club Challenge in 2006, on an evening when another barrier to a potential Great Britain spot – Stuart Fielden – delivered a career-finest performance against Wests Tigers, is the only winners medal he owns.

There will be few Bulls fans who do not appreciate the sterling effort Lynch has put in at the club and his loyalty for not leaving earlier, as many of his colleagues did when the wheels so clearly started coming off following five successive Grand Final appearances.

Raynor, on the other hand, has spent just one season at Odsal before being sacked for a “severe breach of club discipline”.

It is unfortunate. Bradford had given the ex-Great Britain winger a chance after his spell in jail and he had taken it, producing some solid performances while many around him crumbled amid another woeful season.

It earned him a new one-year deal which has now been scrapped and Bradford are left searching for yet more replacements.

Part of their problems this season, Mick Potter’s first in charge, stemmed from such a major overhaul of playing staff, 10 coming in and another 11 departing.

That was understandable for a man who inherited a squad which finished 10th and was in dire need of improvement.

However, they failed to improve on that placing this year and there are worrying signs that it could be another winter of upheaval.

Shad Royston, Marc Herbert, Dave Halley, Lynch and Raynor have gone, as has Patrick Ah Van, although, granted, Bulls fans will not moan the loss of that bumbling Kiwi too much.

But, with Michael Platt and Paul Sykes also rumoured to be on their way, it amounts to major surgery once more.

Some of Potter’s acquisitions could be useful; Harlequins scrum-half Luke Gale may end their problematic search for a genuine playmaker who knows how to run a game, while Jarrod Sammut can offer some spark but the jury will be out on their two NRL acquisitions – Penrith three-quarter Adrian Purtell and Newcastle Knights centre Keith Lulia – given their recent failures in the Australian market.

The fear must be that, as they gain a reputation as a club which is willing to sell its main assets, Lynch following the likes of Sam Burgess and Fielden in recent years, others may follow with offers which struggling Bradford may find hard to turn down.

If they are to stand any chance of eventually challenging again, it is imperative key youngsters like Elliott Whitehead and James Donaldson are not the next to go.