Bradford Bulls have secured the signing former Super League forward Zane Musgrove until the end of the 2025 season. Musgrove was released by Oldham without an explanation on Thursday afternoon with the Championship club confirming the news with a blunt 20-word statement.
However, the 29-year-old, who started the season with Warrington Wolves hasn’t wasted much time in finding a new club, with Bradford snapping him up on a temporary deal until the end of their campaign.
Musgrove is fresh from serving an eight game ban for the use of unacceptable language in Warrington’s Challenge Cup semi-final win over Leigh Leopards. That suspension was handed to him in June, once he’d left the Wolves, but it meant he was restricted to just three Oldham appearances.
However, it seems he could be in contention to make a debut sooner rather than later. Given Brian Noble has already named his 21-man squad for tonight’s game against Sheffield Eagles, that debut looks unlikely to come this week, but he looks set to be included when Bradford face Toulouse Olympique next weekend.
Musgrove made 38 appearances during his year and a half with Warrington in Super League, while he counts Wests Tigers, South Sydney Rabbitohs and St George Illawarra Dragons as former clubs.
Zane Musgrove joins Bradford Bulls
“I’m extremely excited,” Musgrove told the Bradford Bulls website. “From what I’ve seen from Bradford having played against them with Oldham a few weeks ago and how they go about their business, especially the forwards, I’m happy to be part of that forward pack and add to it.
“I’ve caught up with Nobby and he’s obviously got big ambitions for the club so I am extremely excited for that and the challenge ahead.
“It sounds like a really tight knit group, there are some boys from the NRL I have played against so there is a good mixture of lads and I am looking forward to get in and building relationships and getting stuck in.
“It’s been an up and down year for me, I’ve got a couple of games to get right and then it’s into the finals, which is the business time. I’m just looking to finish the season on a high, I have a couple of games to get right and then get into the finals, that’s the business time which I am really looking forward to.”
Head coach Brian Noble added: “He’s played at the highest level in the NRL in Australia, he’s played at a high level with Warrington in Super League and I think for the run-in he has backed himself and wants a chance with us.
“I’ve always said I wouldn’t bring in anybody that wasn’t as good or as good as what we’ve got and I think with Zane we’ve got as good as we’ve got. With six games to go, if we get it right, it’s important that we maintain the pressure for positions and pressure for places and pressure for performances and all of those kind of things. There’s no gimmes, Zane goes by the same rules, if he’s not up to speed, then he won’t play.
“I’ve met Zane a couple of times, I know he’s a good person who will bring energy to us, I think he likes what he has seen at Bradford, he’s as much content with us as the other way round and I think he understands the nature of our field, he could be quite dynamic.”
