TWO contrasting images of Sunday’s match at Featherstone will endure long after memories of the game itself have faded.

The first was of several hundred joyous Rovers supporters dashing onto the pitch to embrace their ecstatic heroes at the final hooter.

The second was of Bradford’s players slumping to the turf in devastation, waiting for the ground to swallow them up.

Some of Rohan Smith’s men were in tears and literally had to be picked up off the ground by a team-mate.

The scenes at Post Office Road told a story about the raw emotion of success and failure.

For Bradford, it was another sob story.

On purely a sporting level, the Bulls have failed badly this season after finishing outside of the top four in a largely part-time league.

That cannot be denied.

They have spent over a million quid on players whereas the likes of Batley, who finished third, have performed far better on a much smaller budget of around £150,000.

Featherstone, another part-time team, claimed fourth place at the expense of the Bulls.

Halifax and Dewsbury both beat Bradford home and away this season, which again tells you something.

The squad that has been assembled at Odsal simply hasn’t been good enough and there has been failure at various levels.

The regular season is decided over 23 rounds and the Bulls got what they deserved in finishing fifth.

Yet the most pressing issue now is where Bradford go from here.

Can they stay as a full-time outfit for a third year in the Championship?

Does Marc Green still have the stomach to retain ownership of a club that is now facing a significant financial shortfall?

Will stellar names such as Kieren Moss, Dane Chisholm and Leon Pryce be at Bradford in 2017?

Moss and Chisholm are under contract and Pryce has agreed to return to his hometown club, but surely only if the club retain their full-time status for next season.

There is no doubt that Bradford’s failure to make the top four and earn money-spinning matches against Leeds, Hull KR, Huddersfield and Salford will give Green much to think about.

The Bulls chairman missed Sunday’s game at Featherstone because he is currently sunning himself in Ibiza.

The players and the coaching staff are still waiting for assurances from the hierarchy that the club will remain full-time next year.

It is a massive call and it is stating the obvious to say a change of ownership cannot be ruled out.

There remains parties interested in taking control of the Bulls and the potential of the club remains huge.

Yes, there has been huge damage to the Bradford Bulls brand in recent times after two spells in administration, relegation from Super League and the indignity of failing to make the top four of the Championship.

Yet it is also worth remembering that Bradford remain one of the biggest clubs in the game.

Last month, Salford drew a crowd of 1,958 for a home Super League game against Huddersfield.

That same weekend, 4,617 supporters turned out to see Bradford beat Batley at Odsal.

If the Bulls can regularly attract over 4,000 for home games against part-time opposition, what sort of crowds could they get as a Super League side?

In fact, what might they get if they were competing at the top end of Super League and challenging for silverware again?

Crowds would be well into five figures once more.

The backing that Bradford enjoyed at Post Office Road on Sunday was outstanding, but there was nothing new in that.

Yet it is the Championship Shield that now beckons for Smith and his players.

The Australian head coach inherited an oversized squad lacking genuine quality in several departments when he arrived to take the reins in early May.

He has been allowed to sign the likes of Moss and Chisholm and three Super League players on loan.

In fact, serious efforts were made last week to bring hometown boy Pryce to Odsal in time for the middle eights.

In the end, no deal could be agreed, and Bradford did not make the top four anyway, although Pryce is still expected to be a Bulls player again next season.

Young fringe players are likely to be given a chance to impress in the coming weeks as the Bulls seek to win their first piece of silverware since being crowned World Club champions in 2006.

James Bentley, Liam Kirk, Ross Oakes, Brandon Pickersgill, Josh Rickett and Brandan Wilkinson all recently penned professional contracts.

Players who are leaving – and there are plenty of those – should make way and may even be allowed to depart with immediate effect.

The club’s youth development programmes have thrived thanks to the excellent work of John Bastian, Matt Diskin and Leigh Beattie.

However the Bulls look next season – and nobody seems to know the answer to that right now – they will at least have a core of homegrown players to build the team around.