Ex-Bradford Bulls star opens up on “gutting” failure after club’s best win for decades

In 2019, Bradford Bulls enjoyed a blast from the past.

From 2003-07, Bradford Bulls vs Leeds Rhinos was perhaps the biggest fixture in Super League as they four of the five Grand Finals in this era.

This was as the Bulls’ brilliance came to an end with a fourth Grand Final win in 2005.

They began to slip down the Super League table and eventually were relegated in 2014.

This ended their regular meetings with Leeds so when they were drawn at home against a struggling Leeds side, there was an opportunity to bring back the past.

They stunned the Rhinos that day 24-22 with former Leeds Rhinos man Sam Hallas at the heart of it for his home town club and speaking to Serious About Rugby League, he revealed how special it was:

“That was ace, there was a good feeling all week and we had a meeting about what the win would mean and a couple of people got emotional about it.

“For me it wasn’t about being bitter because they’d let me go, that’s just sport, for me I was a Bradford fan growing up so I thought I might never get this chance again and when we did it was one of the best feelings in the world and to get a try as well which was fantastic.

“Then we couldn’t get the job done against Halifax which was annoying really.”

However, their Challenge Cup dreams were dashed by Championship rivals Halifax who went on to play against St Helens in the semi-finals.

It left Hallas annoyed and blaming himself:

“It was really annoying and what makes it worse, I didn’t push hard enough on Jordan Lilley’s inside when he makes a break and that still haunts me to this day, it haunts me to this day and hurts me professionally and cuts deep.

“It was a gutting result.”