Bradford Bulls defeated Toulouse Olympique to move fourth in Super League and head coach Kurt Haggerty has had his say.
It’s a win that means all three promoted teams have won two games each after three rounds but it’s the Bulls who sit highest on points difference, behind only Wigan Warriors, Leeds Rhinos and St Helens in a top four that feels reminiscent of the early 2000s.
Bradford won 18-6 on Sunday afternoon with Ethan Ryan scoring a hat-trick after centre Waqa Blake scored the Bulls’ first try, with all four scores coming on the same edge.
Despite that impressive attacking display, it was the defensive efforts that most pleased Kurt Hagggerty with the Bulls’ boss giving his verdict post-match on Sky Sports.
“I’m really happy with what we did defensively,” Haggerty explained before lamenting the lengthy stoppages throughout the game.
“I thought it was probably one of the longest games of rugby I’ve been involved in.
“Ultimately, it was a really scrappy game but we showed a version of rugby where we can get the job done ugly, so I’m really happy.”
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Whilst there were long stoppages, there were also long periods of Bradford defending their line, particularly in the first half, and Haggerty praised his side for their efforts in defence.
“I think we’ve shown that in the three games that we played,” he said when asked about their staunch defence, though he did warn that it must improve.
“There’s a real resilience about the group. We just keep turning up and turning them away but we’ve got to be a lot better in some areas with some better teams that come, especially over to Odsal.
“We need to not be as sloppy and have a little bit more intent in our defence.”
As for the attacking aspect, he praised hat-trick hero Ethan Ryan as one of several outside backs who ‘laid the platform’ for the Bulls’ success.
Haggerty said: “I thought Ethan was very good tonight. I thought the platform that the outside backs laid for us, we usually play shape on shape, but I thought the work our outside backs did was really strong out of yardage.”
All of Esan Marsters, Waqa Blake and Ethan Ryan cleared 150 running metres with the explosive Blake registering six tackle busts and an impressive three offloads.
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A strong showing from @OfficialBullsRL 🐮💪#SuperLeague pic.twitter.com/NnCvXt1EbQ
— Betfred Super League (@SuperLeague) March 1, 2026
