Bradford Bulls suffered a 48-12 home defeat to Hull KR this afternoon, but boss Kurt Haggerty believes the scoreline doesn’t do his sides’ efforts justice.
Going down to a 24-0 lead in the opening 15 minutes, the newly-promoted side did well to scrape back to 24-12 before the half-time hooter.
However, they couldn’t keep that momentum going in the second 40 and were kept scoreless as the Robins crossed for another four to take the two points.
With 14 players injured, the Bulls were down to the bare bones and were forced to bring in reinforcements in the shape of 35-year-old Greg Eden, who joined on a month’s contract from North Wales Crusaders.
Eden was one of the two try scorers this afternoon, with prop Brandon Douglas crashing over from close range to break the Bulls’ deadlock.
Despite yet another defeat, Haggerty is still proud of how his side never gave in, something that only galvanises and strengthens the group going forward.
Speaking to Sky Sports post-match, he said: “We spoke all week about being an effort-based performance today, and I think in the main we got that.
“There was a couple of tries in around the middles which we should have worked harder on, but on the whole I thought our effort was really really good.
“We worked hard for each other, it probably sums up our training session from Tuesday. We had 15 on the training field, and we did a combat session which was committed, physical, and I think it just shows where this group is at, and where we want to go to.”
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 “Shutting my eyes in anticipation” – Bradford Bulls boss glad to get through Hull KR clash unscathed
One man who particularly stood out was Ethan Ryan, who slotted in at full-back due to Caleb Aekins deputising in the halves. The former KR and Salford man was named Bulls’ Man of the Match, and he was also singled out by his boss for some praise.
“I thought Ethan was brilliant,” said Haggerty. “Every time he carried the ball I closed my eyes, I just hope he didn’t get hurt, because that’s just where we are at the moment.
“Every carry we have, every tackle we make, I’m almost shutting my eyes in anticipation that somebody’s okay.
“Listen we’ve got 14 injuries, but we’ve had a mentality of next man up, and at the moment there’s no men left, but we’re working really hard for each other, and I’m enjoying watching us scrap and not give in.”
Haggerty wasn’t convinced that the club would be welcoming back any players for next week’s game against Wigan Warriors, either, with most of the club’s injuries medium to long-term.
Despite that, the boss insists the players that are available will keep working to the best of their ability as they look to graft their way out of the injury crisis.
“It doesn’t matter who pulls the Bulls shirt on, we expect hard work and we’ll never accept mediocrity,” he explained.
“…Like I said we trained on Tuesday as if we’re going to be playing in the Grand Final.
“We were physical, we tested and challenged each other in a lot of different ways, I’ve had to adapt how I coach this week in regards to game plans, strip it back a little bit and focus on some different areas.
“It’s been a test of everybody this week and the way the staff have handled it, the players, the club, the support that we’ve had has been brilliant, but again we won’t accept mediocrity, we will get better.”
