Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty is drawing on his experience as Salford Red Devils assistant and has confirmed he will not risk any academy players being thrown in at the deep end, despite having just 15 fit players.
Haggerty spoke to the media on Tuesday to confirm that just 15 players had taken part in training as the club’s rotten injury run continues, with Esan Marsters now confirmed to have suffered a season-ending injury.
The club are therefore working the phones to target some loan additions ahead of Saturday’s game against Hull KR with Haggerty considering that short-term fix over the possible ‘damaging effect’ of throwing the club’s academy players into action.
Asked about the prospect of loan recruits, Haggerty said: It’s something we’ve discussed, something we may need to look at. We’re in a situation now where we had a mentality of next man up, there’s no men left, so we’ll keep going. Whatever we’ve got, whoever’s out of position and where they go, I’m sure they’ll all step up and do a job for the club.”
Bradford Bulls in race to get loan deals done
He also confirmed it’s unlikely any permanent deals will be made, noting that he’s currently seeking a ‘short-term fix’ until players return, with the first wave of returnees back in around four weeks.
On their loan search, Haggerty described himself as ‘probably more hopeful than confident’, revealing that he had spoken to four or five clubs and was still awaiting replies from two.
“The clubs have been great, but ultimately, everybody’s in the same position at the moment. There’s not many clubs that are healthy at this stage in the season because of the freakish nature of everybody going through the injury crisis.
“Between myself, Jason Hirst, and Brian Noble, we’re consistently on the phone, making sure we look at the right people. We’ll have to look at our academy reserves first, but ultimately, that is down on me to have a duty of care for them players. It is a very very tricky week for us.”
Championship players are also being considered but Haggerty admitted: “We need to be very careful at what we’re doing even though we’re in a pretty desperate situation.”
Wigan Warriors’ worries, Hull FC drama and NRL takeover talk – Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show.
Haggerty warns of ‘duty of care’ amid injury crisis
That desperation likely won’t see him use the club’s academy, at least not unless he is certain players are ready to play, as he recalled his experience as assistant at Salford Red Devils in 2025.
Haggerty explained: “I have experienced this before at Salford. I’ve seen the damaging effect of playing lads that weren’t ready to step up at this level.
“Ultimately our academy are not full-time, and obviously our reserves are part-time. There’s also a duty of care for me, whether I do or not play them players.
“It’s a very tricky situation, but I would never put any of them young lads at risk when playing at this level, whoever you play, especially against a team like Hull KR.”
He admitted that his time at Salford meant that he had seen this sort of situation ‘at its worst form’, adding: “That’s why I’m very protective of what route we go next, whether we go loan, academy or reserve. There’s a duty of care for me with the reserves and the academy players in particular and also making sure the right person that comes in will come in and aid the fight for us.”
