League icon Graham Lowe rises again, to take over Bradford Bulls

Graham Lowe - taking over English giants. Photo / Michael Cunningham.

Kiwi league icon Graham Lowe is back in the big time - as owner of English club Bradford.

The former New Zealand, Wigan, Manly and Queensland coach has linked with ex-New Zealand Rugby League chairman Andrew Chalmers to take over the liquidated Bulls, the BBC reports.

The 70-year-old Lowe said: "We do not see this as a quick fix and we will work through the immediate issue of offering full-time playing contracts to the team.

"Following that, we will look at bolstering the playing squad as necessary to replace those players who have secured contracts elsewhere."

Lowe turned a star-studded Wigan side into the powerhouse of British league in the 1980s.

Chalmers, a wing for Wainuiomata, played reserve grade at Manly and St George. He quit as NZRL chairman in 2009 after a year in the job.

The pair were selected by the Rugby Football League out of a few bidders.

Their group almost took the Bulls out of administration late last year when a bid was rubber-stamped by the RFL, then rejected by the administrator.

Chalmers registered the name Bradford Bulls 2017 at Companies House.

RFL director of operations and legal, Karen Moorhouse, said: "The RFL is confident that the consortium selected to run a new club in Bradford will provide an exciting and stable future for rugby league in the city."