Bradford Bulls boss Kurt Haggerty yet again remains proud of his side’s efforts in defeat this afternooon, after they lost out to Wigan Warriors.
The Bulls suffered their fifth straight defeat, with Wigan scoring seven tries in a 38-16 win.
Ethan Ryan crossed for a double for the away side, whilst Zac Fulton added Bradford’s third, however it wouldn’t be enough to topple a Warriors side who have now managed to end their poor run of form after four league defeats.
Haggerty’s side could have picked up two more concerns, with Fulton and Ed Chamberlain both needing treatment throughout the game, however they played on until the final whistle.
Here is how the Bulls boss assessed the performance, with loanee Ben McNamara one of many topics discussed.
Kurt Haggerty reviews Bradford Bulls defeat to Wigan Warriors
Asked to sum up the side’s efforts this afternoon, Haggerty said: “I can never question the effort and the application of the team. We have a work hard mentality that shows every single week.
“We’re down on troops and we are down on bodies. I think it’s just been a week too far for us this week with the bodies that we’ve got out there, but ultimately, it’s never through lack of effort.
“…We train at a level that never ever accepts mediocrity. There’s been some training sessions where we’ve had 12 to 15 on the field and we’ve still trained relentlessly, prepared for moments like this where we’ve got to keep turning up, keep making them tackles because at the back end of the year, they’ll only help us.”
Despite their heart and efforts though, the Bulls are finding it hard to get any meaningful training sessions in due to having so many players unavailable.
That makes things more tricky when loan and new players come in, they are struggling to adapt to the Bulls’ system due to the fact that there’s not enough players on the training paddock to really test them.
“It’s very difficult,” Haggerty said on the club’s training. “For example, Greg Eden.
“Greg’s only been with us for a week. He barely did a training session last week. He’s come into a game this week where, systematically, he’s not been fully with it because he just hasn’t got the repetitions in the training session.
“I almost feel, in a sense, that we’ve failed Greg, but it’s just where we’re at at the moment.
“It’s very difficult with changing bodies all the time, but ultimately, the ball’s way at the moment is we turn up and we have a crack.”
Eden has joined the club on a month’s loan deal, and this week he was joined by Ben McNamara from Leigh Leopards. He has only signed for this week, but the Bulls boss was asked if there was any scope to make it a longer-term deal.
“I’m not sure,” Haggerty said. “I’ll just take it week by week.
“What I will say for Ben, I thought his application to come in and work out for the team was fantastic.
“He’s a fantastic young man. He’s studious to the game. I’m really thankful for what he’s come and done today for us.”
The Bulls now have a much-needed week off, where Haggerty says the side will “lick our wounds”, “debrief” and hopefully have a “hell of a different team for Hull” – as they look to bring bodies back for their next fixture.
