Bradford Bulls boss Kurt Haggerty has finally got the monkey off his back after his side claimed their first away win of the Super League season.
A 30-14 victory saw the ex-Salford assistant claim his first two points on the road, and despite being incredibly ill-disciplined, their attacking flair was enough to see them past a woeful Giants side.
Tries came from Waqa Blake, who scored two, Ryan Sutton and Jayden Nikorima, the latter of which was named the Sky Sports Player of the Match.
Offering his overall verdict, Haggerty said: “I don’t think we played that great. I thought it was a low-quality Super League game, but we’ve come away [with the win].
“I’m not overly happy with how we played. We scored 30 points, showed some incredible resilience, especially down to 12. It shows signs that we are getting better.”
As mentioned, the Bulls were heavily ill-disciplined, and were very poor in defence. Numerous penalties and six-agains allowed Huddersfield into a game they were never really in, and it all came to a head shortly before the break when Zac Fulton was sent to the sin-bin.
Commenting on the game as a spectacle, Haggerty said: “They looked like two desperate teams trying to win a Super League game, which probably provided entertainment at times, low quality at times.
“I probably won’t say too much in regard to the officiating side. I’ve already been in trouble once this season, so I’ll probably say not a lot. I’m just glad we’ve won it.”
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In the week, a number of injured Bulls stars opted to put their hand up and play for the badge against the Giants, despite clearly not being fully fit.
Zac Fulton, Loghan Lewis and Dan Russell all said they would play wounded for Haggerty’s side, in what is a testament to their buy-in at the club.
The boss was asked if they had all come through unscathed, to which he replied: They weren’t in my plans to play. They’ve all come to me and said ‘we want to play this game’.
“Zac’s probably a week too early. He shouldn’t have played, but he’s come to me and said ‘I want to play this week’.
“Dan Russell’s struggling with his ribs, very similar, Loghan’s a week early from his knee injury, so I’ve not gone to them, but they’ve come to me.”
A surprise name in the 21-man squad was that of Will Gardiner’s, who only a fortnight ago was stretchered off the field in that defeat to St Helens at Odsal.
Commenting on his current status, Haggerty said: “If you ask Will he’d say he’s ready to play. I probably put him in the squad probably just to appease him.
“I’ve got to be careful. I had to be really careful. I was very nervous about playing him, and ultimately, I made the call not to play him.”
