Bradford Bulls boss talks full-time transition and sets out realistic 2026 expectations

Bradford Bulls boss Kurt Haggerty believes that if any of the three promoted sides are to finish outside of the bottom three in Super League, it will be a huge feat given the time and resources the clubs were given to prepare.

Haggerty is preparing for his first season as a full-time head coach, after being one of the many people to move from Salford to Bradford this off-season.

With 16 incomings and 17 outgoings, the squad has had a huge turnover of players, and it will take a while for them all to fully gel into the squad.

The Bulls have been out of the top flight since 2014, and history shows they are one of the most successful clubs in the country. However, silverware will be the last thing on the new boss’ mind, with Haggerty explaining that an 11th placed finish or higher would be an achievement in itself.

Speaking to BBC Radio Leeds, Haggerty revealed some of the “teething problems” the club have faced, as they begin to work in a completely new environment.

He said: “The club’s brand new to full-time. We’ve transitioned from part-time to full-time and straight into Super League, so we have had some teething problems along the way.

“The club, in particular the board and Jason Hirst, the way they’ve reacted and responded to things that we’ve needed, they’ve been first class. The things that we’ve needed, the teething problems that we have, have been fixed really quickly.

“The sessions where I’ve been frustrated, let’s say. It’s never been through the lack of intensity in the training sessions… They’ve trained at an intensity which has even surprised me. The level of training and the intensity of training has been a real pleasant surprise for me.”

Comparing the differences between the first and second tier, Haggerty explained just how difficult the step up from part-time to full-time is, and how those players will need to adapt going into the season ahead.

He said: “The game’s quicker than the Championship, it’s probably equally as physical, but it’s the speed of the game and being competitive for the full game.

“In Super League a lot of your matches go down to the last 15 minutes of the game, so being fit and being competent to compete in a cycle will be the make-or-break for every team.

“We just need to play, so we need to play under fatigue, we need, again, like I said, to test the systems under fatigue, see what it looks like, take some confidence in them games going into Round 1 at Hull.”

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Bradford Bulls boss plays down 2026 expectations

Commenting on his goals for the year, the Bulls boss was very realistic in setting expectations for his squad, and said he can’t allow himself or the players to get ahead of themselves. That being said, the club will be doing all they can to compete in every game, as they hope to pull off some shock wins.

He said: “It’s interesting you ask this question [about 2026 goals] because we had a team meeting a couple of days ago and we spoke about how we won’t be pinpointing games that we think we can win.

“We’ll be going in, prepping and I’ll prep them to win every game and compete in every game. We certainly won’t be earmarking games we think we can win because if you prep that way then you’ll never beat a big club.

“What I would say is if any of the promoted teams do finish out of the bottom three, it will be a pretty incredible achievement and if we’re that team, or one of them teams, it’ll be incredible.”