WELCOME TO BULLIEVE!!!!!
Was 2016 a season to forget or was it not as bad it all seemed after all? At least we have a piece of silverware in the cabinet albeit something that we didn't really want.
Ultimately the goal was to return to Super League, but yet we face the fact that in 2017 we will still be in the Championship.
The side started off brightly enough in 2016 but somehow went into self destruct, and the fact that we had no recognised half back every week certainly played a part in the fact we didn't make the play offs come season end.
Despite as a player for the club who gave everything on the field, Jimmy quit in mid April citing "personal reasons" but to be fair everyone knew the strained relations between Jimmy and Steve Ferres, after all there were several dubious signings as once again the club seemed keener on quantity rather than quality.
Richie Mathers was brought out of retirement as a replacement for Jake Mullaney who had left the club at the end of 2015 season, despite still being under contract.
The Bulls were also dumped out of the Challenge Cup at the hands of fellow Championship side Dewsbury, and to rub further salt into the wounds, beaten at home to Sheffield Eagles.
Lets be honest here at this point we all felt it could get worse, but hope arrived with 11 games left to rescue a season with the arrival of Rohan Smith, son of Brian who had such a major say in making Bradford the force they once were in Super League.
New blood was brought into the squad in the form of Kieron Moss, Dane Chisholm from the NRL, Joe Keyes from London and on loan Lewis Charnock and Joe Philbin. With Rohan in charge the fortunes changed and there was hope with Smiths first 10 games in, winning 6 of those that the play offs were still in with a shout. All the Bulls had to do was go to Featherstone and win. Sounds easy, but we all know how that one ended. Rohan admitted that leaving Adam O'Brien out of the squad was a costly mistake.
So on we went into the Championship shield, you could say how the once mighty had fallen, the Bulls went on to lose only once in 9 games with defeat at Workington, but on analysis plenty of tries were also conceded. However we did achieve a trophy and it gave the Odsal faithful something to finally cheer but once again it really only covered the cracks and the failure to make the qualifiers.
So after the rollercoaster ride in 2016 what can we look forward to in 2017, well most of the squad has departed with at least 20+ players moving on, but a good core remains in the likes of Adam O'Brien, Dane Chisholm, Kieron Moss, James Clare and Kris Welham.
Alex Melllor and Ethan Ryan both have a very promising future within the squad, 6 academy players have been promoted to the first team squad and once again the youth is playing a pivotal role at the club, but lets keep hold of the young talent and not let them move on too soon.
2017 has to be a season where the Bulls dominate the championship, a statement that wont be easy again with Hull Kr also looking for an immediate return to Super league, Batley have built a good base for 2017 after the efforts of John Kear, and Matt Diskin will be looking to make an impact in his first full competitive season. But despite this The Bulls should at least be aiming to cement top spot, and a good cup run would certainly fill the coffers especially if a derby against our good friends the Rhinos was to come up. After all the club has had its publicity again of not paying players on time and other much needed income would be welcomed by Marc Green.
Rohan seems to be well underway with his recruitment, and with the likes of Leon Pryce returning maybe the ship can be steadied on the field with some good leadership. Even if he cant play a full 80 minutes his experience within the dressing room will be vital to squad.
All we can do is keep the faith and shout loud and proud from the terraces, and at least we have a trip to Blackpool and France to look forward too.
2016 Bradford Bulls Ladies team.
Whilst the men's team may have suffered in 2016, what a brilliant year it has been for the inaugural season of the Ladies RL team.
Launched in February as the first full time professional club to have a ladies team affiliated to the club, previously known as Bradford Clayton Thunderbirds, already had a good solid base but the link with the professional club certainly boosted the team as a whole. In there first competitive game of the season, the side eased passed Selby 82-0.
Sadly the team were beaten in both the Challenge cup and Grand final but there is a fine solid squad to build on for 2017 and with the support of the club should do very well.
We hope to have further information on the ladies squad as we move into 2017 and will keep you all updated on there progress. Its also worth noting that in the recent England ladies game against France that 22 of the 36 points were scored by Bradford players.
The ladies team also eased past France 36-6.
Looking back.
20 years ago the same transition period was taking place, the only exception is a whole re branding and name change, it was then when we had Brian Smith at the helm who led the revolution and turned a faltering RL club into a dominate force in the game.
Bradford laid down there intentions as they won there first competitive game in the Challenge cup 4th round beating Batley 60-18, and going all the way to the final beating Leigh, Wakefield and Leeds on the way to Wembley but falling to St Helens 32-40 in the final.
When you look back at 96 from a supporters perspective it was a huge turn in fortunes, crowds flooded back to Odsal and BULLMANIA was in full swing, but it was the July of 96 that will live long in the memories, having already lost the previous fixtures against Wigan and St Helens including the Challenge cup they were next up to visit odsal.
Rumours at this stage of the season were also circling that Brian Smith was to head home to Australia, but the Bradford side rolled through July with ease.
First up was St Helens who didn't know what had hit them with 6 tries, then when Scott Gibbs was sent off a potential rout was on the cards but Saints showed some resilience in 2nd period with a fightback as Bradford were also reduced to 12 men with Karl Fairbank having his marching orders for a high tackle, the game finished 50-22 but at one stage the Bulls led 38-0, saints restored some self respect.
"I don't think a team like Bradford can back that up two weeks in a row against a team like Wigan!!
Wigan by 20. Quoted Shaun Mcrae. Well clearly upset from defeat in the previous week and 25 minutes in he had read the script already, as the Bulls trailed 10-0. This was the biggest crowd at Odsal since 1950, 17,500 had packed into Odsal and what a game they were going to witness. Jeremy Donougher was shown the red card for a high tackle on Simon Haughton, instead of heads going down this seemed to inject life into the Bulls with Bernard Dwyer and Jimmy Lowes putting in huge performances in the pack, and Robbie Paul literally playing out of his skin with his amazing runs and lightning pace. At half time Medley had reduced the deficit and McNamara converting meant the half time lead was only 4 points. Four minutes of the restart and Dwyer had equalized on the left, then up came Jon Scales who added the clinching try ten minutes from time to win 20-12 on a truly memorable night in Bradford.
It had been announced that before this game Smith was heading home with assistant Matthew Elliot to take over.
Next up for the Bulls was Warrington, The game was full of incident before kick off, Iestyn Harris was in dispute with the Warrington club, and there had been the public argument between Brian Smith and Alex Murphy over the merits and demerits of super league.
At the break it was wire who went in 10-4 to the good it could have been much bigger, but twice great work by the then future Great Britain Full Back Stuart Spruce had denied them over the line.
But it was Bradley in the 2nd half who inspired the Bulls side to victory scoring himself and making two more, Smiths words on Bradley after the game were "you see him in training and don't think he will last another week, but again he did it when it was critical". The game had its share of incidents including Mark Forster who had already been in the sin bin was bundled into the Sky camera by Jon Scales and Steve McNamara.
The game finished 30-20.
Oldham were to arrive at Odsal and play on a Sunday evening late in July and it was the chance for a 100% record for the month, Oldham were already struggling with injuries but since the last thriller at odsal 2 weeks ago still 10,000 rolled through the turnstiles to witness a more one sided affair with Robbie Paul scoring a hat trick in a 56-0 victory.
CENTREPOINT SLEEP OUT
The Annual sleep out returns to Odsal stadium next month on the 3rd November, you can raise vital funds for the homeless charity who support homeless 16-25 year olds into a home and into full time work. The charity helps over 9'000 young people per year. You can visit there page and read some of the stories by Clicking here
I was hoping to take part in the event but sadly I cant get time off work however, I recently took part in the Yorkshire Marathon for the charity and next Sunday I take on the Bradford Half Marathon in aid of the charity again and yes I'm looking for a few donations. I've set myself a 200 target but I would like to smash this and raise nearer £300. You don't have to donate much £1 will help or even the price of a pint you can donate by visiting my Just Giving Page by Clicking here
And Finally,
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2017 season. details can be found by clicking here which offers great incentives and don't forget I we go up you get a full 2018 membership for FREE!!!!!
Christmas is also round the corner so why not have a browse in the shop too and see what's new or on sale.
Disclaimer;
All research is undertaken independently, the views of this blog are not to that of the opinion of Bradford Bulls RLFC. This is a fans view and in no way is connected to anyone at the club.
All images are used with permission of Bradford Bulls RLFC, most of all we hope you enjoy what we do and don't forget our Facebook group, and Twitter handle @BullsBULLieve go on and give us a follow. Please also share your memories and photos with us we love to hear from fellow fans and we like to interact.
Article Written and researched by Thomas Fynn.
Ultimately the goal was to return to Super League, but yet we face the fact that in 2017 we will still be in the Championship.
The side started off brightly enough in 2016 but somehow went into self destruct, and the fact that we had no recognised half back every week certainly played a part in the fact we didn't make the play offs come season end.
Despite as a player for the club who gave everything on the field, Jimmy quit in mid April citing "personal reasons" but to be fair everyone knew the strained relations between Jimmy and Steve Ferres, after all there were several dubious signings as once again the club seemed keener on quantity rather than quality.
Richie Mathers was brought out of retirement as a replacement for Jake Mullaney who had left the club at the end of 2015 season, despite still being under contract.
The Bulls were also dumped out of the Challenge Cup at the hands of fellow Championship side Dewsbury, and to rub further salt into the wounds, beaten at home to Sheffield Eagles.
Lets be honest here at this point we all felt it could get worse, but hope arrived with 11 games left to rescue a season with the arrival of Rohan Smith, son of Brian who had such a major say in making Bradford the force they once were in Super League.
New blood was brought into the squad in the form of Kieron Moss, Dane Chisholm from the NRL, Joe Keyes from London and on loan Lewis Charnock and Joe Philbin. With Rohan in charge the fortunes changed and there was hope with Smiths first 10 games in, winning 6 of those that the play offs were still in with a shout. All the Bulls had to do was go to Featherstone and win. Sounds easy, but we all know how that one ended. Rohan admitted that leaving Adam O'Brien out of the squad was a costly mistake.
So on we went into the Championship shield, you could say how the once mighty had fallen, the Bulls went on to lose only once in 9 games with defeat at Workington, but on analysis plenty of tries were also conceded. However we did achieve a trophy and it gave the Odsal faithful something to finally cheer but once again it really only covered the cracks and the failure to make the qualifiers.
So after the rollercoaster ride in 2016 what can we look forward to in 2017, well most of the squad has departed with at least 20+ players moving on, but a good core remains in the likes of Adam O'Brien, Dane Chisholm, Kieron Moss, James Clare and Kris Welham.
Alex Melllor and Ethan Ryan both have a very promising future within the squad, 6 academy players have been promoted to the first team squad and once again the youth is playing a pivotal role at the club, but lets keep hold of the young talent and not let them move on too soon.
2017 has to be a season where the Bulls dominate the championship, a statement that wont be easy again with Hull Kr also looking for an immediate return to Super league, Batley have built a good base for 2017 after the efforts of John Kear, and Matt Diskin will be looking to make an impact in his first full competitive season. But despite this The Bulls should at least be aiming to cement top spot, and a good cup run would certainly fill the coffers especially if a derby against our good friends the Rhinos was to come up. After all the club has had its publicity again of not paying players on time and other much needed income would be welcomed by Marc Green.
Rohan seems to be well underway with his recruitment, and with the likes of Leon Pryce returning maybe the ship can be steadied on the field with some good leadership. Even if he cant play a full 80 minutes his experience within the dressing room will be vital to squad.
All we can do is keep the faith and shout loud and proud from the terraces, and at least we have a trip to Blackpool and France to look forward too.
2016 Bradford Bulls Ladies team.
Whilst the men's team may have suffered in 2016, what a brilliant year it has been for the inaugural season of the Ladies RL team.
Launched in February as the first full time professional club to have a ladies team affiliated to the club, previously known as Bradford Clayton Thunderbirds, already had a good solid base but the link with the professional club certainly boosted the team as a whole. In there first competitive game of the season, the side eased passed Selby 82-0.
Sadly the team were beaten in both the Challenge cup and Grand final but there is a fine solid squad to build on for 2017 and with the support of the club should do very well.
We hope to have further information on the ladies squad as we move into 2017 and will keep you all updated on there progress. Its also worth noting that in the recent England ladies game against France that 22 of the 36 points were scored by Bradford players.
The ladies team also eased past France 36-6.
Looking back.
20 years ago the same transition period was taking place, the only exception is a whole re branding and name change, it was then when we had Brian Smith at the helm who led the revolution and turned a faltering RL club into a dominate force in the game.
Bradford laid down there intentions as they won there first competitive game in the Challenge cup 4th round beating Batley 60-18, and going all the way to the final beating Leigh, Wakefield and Leeds on the way to Wembley but falling to St Helens 32-40 in the final.
When you look back at 96 from a supporters perspective it was a huge turn in fortunes, crowds flooded back to Odsal and BULLMANIA was in full swing, but it was the July of 96 that will live long in the memories, having already lost the previous fixtures against Wigan and St Helens including the Challenge cup they were next up to visit odsal.
Rumours at this stage of the season were also circling that Brian Smith was to head home to Australia, but the Bradford side rolled through July with ease.
First up was St Helens who didn't know what had hit them with 6 tries, then when Scott Gibbs was sent off a potential rout was on the cards but Saints showed some resilience in 2nd period with a fightback as Bradford were also reduced to 12 men with Karl Fairbank having his marching orders for a high tackle, the game finished 50-22 but at one stage the Bulls led 38-0, saints restored some self respect.
"I don't think a team like Bradford can back that up two weeks in a row against a team like Wigan!!
Wigan by 20. Quoted Shaun Mcrae. Well clearly upset from defeat in the previous week and 25 minutes in he had read the script already, as the Bulls trailed 10-0. This was the biggest crowd at Odsal since 1950, 17,500 had packed into Odsal and what a game they were going to witness. Jeremy Donougher was shown the red card for a high tackle on Simon Haughton, instead of heads going down this seemed to inject life into the Bulls with Bernard Dwyer and Jimmy Lowes putting in huge performances in the pack, and Robbie Paul literally playing out of his skin with his amazing runs and lightning pace. At half time Medley had reduced the deficit and McNamara converting meant the half time lead was only 4 points. Four minutes of the restart and Dwyer had equalized on the left, then up came Jon Scales who added the clinching try ten minutes from time to win 20-12 on a truly memorable night in Bradford.
It had been announced that before this game Smith was heading home with assistant Matthew Elliot to take over.
Next up for the Bulls was Warrington, The game was full of incident before kick off, Iestyn Harris was in dispute with the Warrington club, and there had been the public argument between Brian Smith and Alex Murphy over the merits and demerits of super league.
At the break it was wire who went in 10-4 to the good it could have been much bigger, but twice great work by the then future Great Britain Full Back Stuart Spruce had denied them over the line.
But it was Bradley in the 2nd half who inspired the Bulls side to victory scoring himself and making two more, Smiths words on Bradley after the game were "you see him in training and don't think he will last another week, but again he did it when it was critical". The game had its share of incidents including Mark Forster who had already been in the sin bin was bundled into the Sky camera by Jon Scales and Steve McNamara.
The game finished 30-20.
Oldham were to arrive at Odsal and play on a Sunday evening late in July and it was the chance for a 100% record for the month, Oldham were already struggling with injuries but since the last thriller at odsal 2 weeks ago still 10,000 rolled through the turnstiles to witness a more one sided affair with Robbie Paul scoring a hat trick in a 56-0 victory.
CENTREPOINT SLEEP OUT
The Annual sleep out returns to Odsal stadium next month on the 3rd November, you can raise vital funds for the homeless charity who support homeless 16-25 year olds into a home and into full time work. The charity helps over 9'000 young people per year. You can visit there page and read some of the stories by Clicking here
I was hoping to take part in the event but sadly I cant get time off work however, I recently took part in the Yorkshire Marathon for the charity and next Sunday I take on the Bradford Half Marathon in aid of the charity again and yes I'm looking for a few donations. I've set myself a 200 target but I would like to smash this and raise nearer £300. You don't have to donate much £1 will help or even the price of a pint you can donate by visiting my Just Giving Page by Clicking here
And Finally,
Season tickets are now on sale for the 2017 season. details can be found by clicking here which offers great incentives and don't forget I we go up you get a full 2018 membership for FREE!!!!!
Christmas is also round the corner so why not have a browse in the shop too and see what's new or on sale.
Disclaimer;
All research is undertaken independently, the views of this blog are not to that of the opinion of Bradford Bulls RLFC. This is a fans view and in no way is connected to anyone at the club.
All images are used with permission of Bradford Bulls RLFC, most of all we hope you enjoy what we do and don't forget our Facebook group, and Twitter handle @BullsBULLieve go on and give us a follow. Please also share your memories and photos with us we love to hear from fellow fans and we like to interact.
Article Written and researched by Thomas Fynn.
