Bradford Bulls stun Championship rivals despite going down to 11 men

Bradford Bulls have been seen as the dark horses for Super League promotion in 2023 after some exciting business bringing in some former Super League players such as Josh Johnson who debuted this afternoon.

As he made his debut, the Bulls were tested against the previously unbeaten Toulouse Olympique at Odsal.

The French side were playing Super League this time last year and have looked like the side most likely to stop favourites Featherstone in the first few rounds being unbeaten.

But the Bulls showed they can compete with the top teams in 2023 with a try after 12 minutes when George Flanagan Senior powered over from close range to give them the lead.

However, the French side responded after four minutes with a great break resulting in Anthony Marion going over to level the game at 6-all.

The Bulls did take the lead once more through a penalty but before the break another Marion try gave the French side a 12-8 lead at the break.

The momentum was with Toulouse and a sin bin for Keven Appo only added to that and in his absence Toulouse made it 18-8. Lambert Belmas the scorer this time.

At this stage the game was getting feisty and Bradford went down to 11 men when Jordan Lilley was also sin binned as was one of his oppinents.

This sparked Bradford into life and as Appo prepared to return to the fray Joe Arundel raced through to make it 18-14.

Then Leeds Rhinos star Liam Tindall, appearing for the Bulls on dual reg from Leeds Rhinos, dived in at the corner. Patton converted from the edge to give the Bulls the lead.

A few minutes later, the Bulls extended their lead as Ben Blackmore came back inside and fed AJ Wallace through a gap to score.

Another yellow card followed this time for Joe Bretherton and there was another yellow as Flanagan was tripped on the break allowing Flanagan to make it 28-18.