Bradford Bulls signing Ryan Sutton has spoken about why he has returned to Super League and what he will add to the club, as well as revealing his long-standing belief that the Bulls always deserved to be in the top flight.
The West Yorkshire club will play in Super League next year for the first time in over a decade with the long wait ending when they earned their place via the IMG rankings, leaping to 10th after an impressive boost in their score.
That means that Bradford are the only promoted side to have full central funding and that’s led to heavy recruitment with over a dozen signings made, including NRL forward Ryan Sutton.
Sutton has now spoke to BBC Radio Leeds about his return, even joking that he could stay beyond his two-year deal after revealing that his wife, who is Australian, had adapted well so far.
He explained: “I’ve been over in Australia for seven years, had a family over there, had a big bunch of my life over there and then when the opportunity arised to come back, it was something I couldn’t really say no to.
“The good thing about it was my wife was on board with it. She actually said the other day, ‘I kind of like it here so if you want to extend or anything, that’s an opportunity for us to do’, so I think we’re just sick of moving.”
Ryan Sutton hoping to “add a lot” to Bradford Bulls
With Bradford adding so many players to their squad, it could be on experienced players like Sutton to take on key roles within the group and he’s admitted that’s something he’d be keen to do.
“I think I can add a lot,” he admitted, adding: “I debuted when I was 18 in 2013 or something like that, so it’s a long time ago. I’ve learned so much over them years, had so many different coaches and understood so many differences in players and cultures.
“To come here and hopefully give some experience and help the young boys, and especially just get on the field and show what I can do again.”
As for Bradford and their return to Super League, he explained that he never felt the club deserved not to be in the top flight, stating: “It’s got a big community that love rugby league, and you only have to sit here looking at Odsal, it’s pretty cool. I remember the last time I played here, I think I was maybe 16 or 17. It’s a stadium and a team that deserves to be in the Super League because of their history.”
What Bradford’s NRL signing expects of Super League
As for what he expects now he’s back in England, Sutton believes the quality isn’t that far from the NRL and even noted the past two World Club Challenges as an example of that.
He said: “The quality of the players are definitely getting better, the young kids are getting better. There’s obviously little things with head-high contacts and stuff like that that are a bit iffy.
“Obviously the rules over in the NRL are different to the rules over in the Super League, so that’s going to take a little bit of game adjustment too. I think it’s a very good competition, you only have to look at the last two World Cup challenges and see Super League winners.”
On the World Club Challenge, he added: “I don’t care if the Aussies come over and take it for granted or what, but it’s the best against the best. Obviously the Super League has won that last two years and it’s good to see.”
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