Whitehead battles the rain and Catalans defence
After a month's absence the Bull Pen is back in bumper form, covering both March and April's fixtures. A big thank you to everyone who wished me well during my recent illness, I'm now back on my feet and recovering well.
A recovery of sorts appeared to be on the cards for the Bradford Bulls at the beginning of March with a 40-18 home victory over Wakefield making it back-to-back victories for the Odsal outfit, but the revival was short lived as a rampant Huddersfield side ran nine tries past their West Yorkshire rivals at the Galpharm Stadium on March 13th.
Despite this setback, the Bulls managed to grind out a victory against league leaders Castleford on March 20th, with two tries from Nick Scruton and one from new signing Olivier Elima bringing the Tigers' 100 per cent start to the campaign to an end.
A now routine defeat at St Helens followed on March 25th, the 28-16 reverse meaning coach Mick Potter had an unhappy return to his former club and leaving him wondering how to instil Bradford with the consistency his old side displayed under his guidance.
The Bulls registered what at the time of writing is their most recent victory on April 3rd with a narrow 24-22 home win over Harlequins, who had started Super League XVI like a house on fire. A hat-trick from former Bradford player and Wibsey's own Karl Pryce was not enough for the visitors, with Patrick Ah Van's 100 per cent success rate with the boot proving to be the difference between the sides.
A run of three straight defeats followed for Bradford, with a 34-24 loss against Hull at the KC Stadium followed by a 56-16 thrashing at Salford which ranks among the worst ever Super League performances by the Bulls.
Mick Potter demanded a vast improvement in the next game against Leeds Rhinos on April 21st and the Bulls duly obliged at the Grattan Stadium in front of a 20,000 crowd. The action on the pitch was even hotter than the 70 degree temperatures the spectators had enjoyed during the day in a topsy-turvy encounter between the bitter local rivals.
The returning Patrick Ah Van made a major difference for the Bulls in the opening stages as they raced into a 10-0 lead inside 15 minutes and led 12-10 at the break. However, the Rhinos demonstrated their usual tenacity to score twice in the final quarter of the game for a 30-22 triumph.
A trip to the sunny south of France seemed the ideal way to end the Easter period against a Catalans Dragons side who had never beaten the Bulls at home, but the weather had other ideas on April 25th. Horrendous conditions from the outset played havoc with the TV broadcast but viewers missed very little, with an 8-8 draw in the Perpignan quagmire reflecting a rather drab encounter, the saving grace being that it brought Bradford's losing streak to an end.