Bradford Bulls are set to finish bottom of Super League after being walloped 35-16 at York Knights tonight.
Bulls led early on and were only six points down at half-time, but collapsed spectacularly in the final half an hour of their season.
Ryan Sutton and Riley Dean scored Bradford’s first half tries, both converted by Chris Atkin, either side of touchdowns for York’s Scott Galeano and Ben Jones-Bishop.
Toa Mata’afa crossed just before the break to give Knights the advantage and Jesse Dee, Xavier Va’a and David Nofoaluma made the game safe, Cody Hunter converting five of the hosts’ six tries, before Jayden Okunbor’s late consolation.
The game ended on a high for York when fans’ favourite prop Paul Vaughan, playing his final game before retirement, booted a drop goal to complete the scoring.
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York Knights and Bradford Bulls talking points
Wooden spoon
Bulls’ 20th defeat of the season means the Super League wooden spoon is heading for Odsal Stadium.
However, unless Hull FC and Huddersfield Giants both win their final game, Bulls will finish bottom on for and against and seven wins isn’t terrible for a promoted side.
Bradford’s 20 points is the most achieved by a last-placed team since London Broncos managed 20 in the 29-game season seven years ago.
In terms of 27-round campaigns, only Castleford Tigers have done better when propping up the table. They managed 15 points in 2008.
Knights to remember
On the other hand, Bulls received twice the central funding awarded to the two other promoted sides, York and Toulouse Olympique, who both finished above them in last year’s Championship.
This was York’s ninth win and they are set to finish 10th in the table, which is a hugely impressive achievement for what is basically a second-tier squad boosted by a handful of smart pre-season additions, Vaughan being the most notable.
A decade or so ago York were playing home games at the Heworth amateur club. If in pre-season they’d been offered 10th on the table, 18 points and wins against Hull KR, St Helens, Hull FC (twice) and Catalans Dragons, none of their fans would have believed it.
400 up for BJB
York’s players gave Jones-Bishop a guard of honour on to the pitch before his 400th career game and there couldn’t have been a more popular scorer of Knights’ second try.
The 38-year-old, who made his first team debut for Leeds Rhinos way back in 2008, won two Grand Finals with his home city club and also played in the top-flight for Harlequins RL, Salford and Wakefield Trinity before a couple of spells at York either side of a stint at Sheffield Eagles.
Capped seven times by Jamaica – and scorer of their most famous try, against New Zealand in the 2022 World Cup – he’s keen to go around again with York next season.
Thursday night lights
With issues still to be settled at both ends of the table, it would have made more sense for all seven games in the final round to kick off at the same time.
But if we have to have Thursday night games, this all-Yorkshire clash – which was rescheduled for Sky TV – is exactly the sort of fixture which should be played on that night of the week.
The sides aren’t exactly neighbours, but they are close enough to ensure a decent number of away fans and York’s 9,000-capacity community stadium enables a vibrant atmosphere even when it’s only half full. Huddersfield Giants will be hoping their move to Dewsbury next year has a similar effect.
Scott Galeano sin-bin
It was an eventful evening for York’s left-centre. He couldn’t have too many complaints after Chris Kendall showed him a yellow card midway through the first half for a dangerous lift on Phoenix Steinwade.
Bulls scored, ironically through the middle via Ryan Sutton, while Galeano was off the field, but he made amends within seconds of returning, stepping over from Liam Harris’ pass for a well-taken touchdown.
.@YorkRLFC see out their 2026 #SuperLeague campaign with a win ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/J4umJwoXZE
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) September 10, 2026
