Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty has revealed that his side “limped” into today’s pre-season friendly with Leeds Rhinos, after suffering a number of injuries within the week.
The Bulls produced a squad that featured a number of fringe players, perhaps more than was originally expected.
Ryan Sutton, who was named in the preliminary squad but didn’t feature, was one of the bigger names to miss out, as were a few other new signings.
Haggerty confirmed that those knocks came either earlier this week or on game day, meaning they had to readjust at the last minute.
Commenting on Sutton’s absence, the boss revealed that Sutton dropped out of the side this morning due to an injury, whilst two other players pulled up earlier in the week:
“Zac Fulton dropped out the day before the game… Andy Ackers was another one who dropped out on [gameday].
“His [injury] was a back spasm. We’ve just had one week where they’ve all fell on the same week, leading into the Leeds week.
“It’s been a nervy week, but I think we’ve dealt with it really well.”
Rowan Milnes was another to miss out, with the half-back picking up an abductor injury. Haggerty believes he will be back in time for the Challenge Cup Third Round in a fortnight’s time.
In what is good news for the club and their fans, Haggerty hopes that almost all of their current injuries will have resolved by that Cup game, where they will play London Broncos or Wests Warriors.
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Bradford Bulls lose to Leeds Rhinos in pre-season friendly
In what was their first game against Super League opposition since being promoted, the Bulls found themselves running out of steam, and their lack of experience and available bodies came back to cost them.
Playing with just six subs compared to Leeds’ 12, Bradford were tested heavily, and as a result let in five second-half tries as the Rhinos ended with a convincing victory.
Commenting on the game as a whole, Haggerty said: “I think we were competitive for [the first] 40, and then for [the second] 40 we weren’t competitive.
“We’ll take a lot out of what we’ve done in the first half in particular.”
The Bulls were only down 16-12 at half-time, but it was that change in ruck speed and the quickness of the game that cost the side in the end.
“We’re feeling it ourselves. We’ve got a new group, so we’ll look at it, we’ll review it,” Haggerty explained.
“If we’re too slow in the ruck, we’ll speed it up, and if we think we’re okay, we’ll continue doing what we are doing.”
