Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty has confirmed return dates for three key players whilst also addressing a big ‘hoodoo’ that the club want to fix up.
The Bulls travel to face Wigan Warriors on Saturday afternoon hoping to win their first away game of the season, with Bradford the only Super League club not to win on the road in the competition this season.
That’s a fact that head coach Kurt Haggerty was asked about in his pre-match presser, something he admitted ‘hurt to hear’ but had been addressed among the group.
The Bulls coach said: “That’s one of the big talking points for us as a group internally, we want to get that hoodoo out of the way and we want our first win away.”
He had also revealed the club had been ‘more active’ in the loan market, having had their enquiries rebuffed last week, and that activity came to fruition as they landed Ben McNamara on a loan deal from Leigh Leopards.
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Bradford Bulls hopeful of double boost for Hull FC clash
McNamara is expected to start in the halves, a position where the Bulls are very short with Rowan Milnes, Joe Keyes, Jayden Nikorima and Luke Hooley all absent at the moment. The latter two have seen round 11 against Hull FC confirmed as their expected return date in a big boost.
Meanwhile, it was confirmed that recent halves stand-in, and the club’s standout player this year, Joe Mellor has undergone surgery and will face a longer period on the sidelines.
Haggerty explained: “He had his surgery yesterday so he had his meniscus removed. I think you’re probably talking four to six weeks.”
Another man in that timescale is forward Ebon Scurr, though Haggerty joked that he wasn’t even sure what injury Scurr had, given how many he is having to currently recount.
“I’ve got that many injuries it’s hard to remember them all but I’m pretty sure Ebon is a hamstring and it’s four to six weeks. It’s either hamstring or calf.”
One man who was a concern after the loss to Hull KR but has been named in the squad to face Wigan is Brandon Douglas with Haggerty confirming: “Brandon has got an ongoing knee issue at the minute. It may need draining but overall, he’s okay.”
