Welcome to the Bradford Bulls BULLieve Blog.
How can we not start this edition without starting with a 100% league and cup record, Challenge Cup and Super league Champions, the ladies Bradford Bulls squad. What a superb season its been for them and not only that, no less than 10 of the side have been picked for England RL squad this October.
I decided to go to the Ladies match at Heworth purely out of curiosity, there was quite a bit of hype about the game and I thought like many others why not its an afternoon out, even my boys enjoyed it maybe because we were all closer to the action, plus the bar certainly did well out of the Bulls faithful, who had certainly turned up in numbers to show there support.
After a slow start from the Bulls they ended up to be 50-16 victors over Featherstone Rovers, recovering from a 12-4 early deficit. The score on paper makes it look it to be an easy game but in the opening exchanges it was from it at first. Bulls had to defend there own line with cause as the Rovers pressured the line and askes a few questions of the Bulls but they held out superbly and was only time before there class showed. However it was the 2nd half when the Bulls really upped the gears running in tries with ease. Tries from Amy Hardcastle (2) Captain Kirsty Moroney (2) Savannah Andrade, Charlotte Booth, Shona Hoyle, Lois Forsell, Laura Hickey, Jess Courtman with goals from Clare Gardner (2) and Courtman (3)
The Bulls coach Geoff Toovey was also in attendance with Leigh Beattie, albeit Geoff had sampled one or two lagers by the end of the game and was slightly worse for wear but he certainly enjoyed his day off with the fans.
Here are a few images from the game in Heworth.
So they had the Challenge Cup, unbeaten going to the Grand final in Manchester this Saturday just gone, would you bet against the mighty Bulls Women? It was a repeat of the Challenge cup final and once again turned in a dominant display to complete the league and cup double.
Bradford turned in a dominant display in some tricky conditions with captain Kirsty Moroney and Lois Forsell putting them firmly in charge from early on. Georgia Roche did hit back to reduce the deficit to 6 points but the Bulls piled on the pressure and Booth scored a superb try to lead 16-6 at the interval.
After the break it was the Bulls that piled on the pressure and scored further tries through Garner, Hardcastle, Henegan and Hields, Garner was also on fine form with the boot as she kicked 4 goals for her side.
The ladies league is set to expand next season and these ladies are going to take some beating, its also worth noting that 10 of the Bulls side have been selected for the England train on squad in Australia for the RLWC 2017. Good luck to you all its nothing more than any of you deserve. 
A few images from the Grand Final victory, Courtesy of the RFL and Pete Smith Photography.
2017 Season Review
Lets face it, we were doomed from the moment they announced the fact we were deducted 12 points, after all the RFL had made those the conditions to the new owners. With a squad literally torn apart during the off season and a team of young kids throw in at the deep end we didn't stand a hope of staying in the Championship. To be fair to a makeshift side that swapped and changed every week the Bulls went on a bit of a run and won 4 out of 5 games which gave everyone some hope that the unachievable was possible, but sadly all the loan deals and recalls of players to parent clubs finally caught up. The side went 9 games without a win despite Dane Chisholm re signing for his second spell, and arguably the sides best performance all season running table toppers Hull KR to a point at the summer bash was a spectacle. Not to forget the fans superb support once again who have been magnificent all season, especially Luke Elvidge and his "chav corner" raising the bar and really showing there undying support, even a fund was set up to raise money to get banners etc that's support.
Sadly our star player Dane was injured in the bash game which had given us much hope but it wasn't to be and the Bulls carried on the losing streak. It wasn't just losing Dane though, our new heroes in Ethan Ryan and Ross Oakes missed chunks of the campaign, by the end of 2017 42 different players had donned the famous red amber and black. But it would have been easy just to give up for all concerned at one point the Bulls leaked 168 in 3 games, the numbers were so thin on the ground that players from the academy were being thrown in to make up the numbers. These were testing times but when hopefuls such as Liam kirk were just hoping to start a game in 2017 and end up playing in every one he's almost a veteran come next year. This is what will be important as we look to keep it short and sweet in 2018 and move back to the championship and hopefully stabilise and re build a proper base before even thinking of super league.
James Bentley another youngster off the Bulls production line is now destined for St Helens after some terrific performances, and was voted the Championship young player of the year. I'm not going to dwell too much on performances on what was good and bad, the season was very indifferent, there is still the coaching role yet to be confirmed, which cannot be left too late in my opinion as there is no need for any further distractions as we move towards 2018 and the unknown league 1. Its not going to be easy in the bottom tier but one thing for sure with all the current signings its realy been a shot in the arm for all the supporters, relegation seems a distant memory and now the fightback is on.
Anyone fancy going for a walk?
We ( Ben Moorhouse and Gaynor Thompson) have now returned from Rhodes and we would like to share with you the news that our successful Extreme Challenge walk where we walked the full east coast of Rhodes in one day - a total of 70 miles or 113km in extreme heat and humidity has been officially recorded in the history books by the Greek government and South Aegean Region as the first people to do this. The highest temperature recorded on the day was 45c.
A press conference was held by the main National TV channel last week. Please see the full press conference video on the link
PRESS CONFERENCE!
Click here to watch the press conference But more importantly we have continued Steve Prescott's memory and legacy in style and also so far raising nearly £2500 for this years Extreme Challenge Walk for The Steve Prescott Foundation. Over the 3 years the total amount raised is £7000.
Please see our story on the Steve Prescott Foundation website.
Steve Prescott-mandraki-extreme-challenge-walk-2017
This year took us both to new limits - but yet again we have conquered what most people said is impossible.
Bradford Bulls supporters Steven, Lindsay and Rhys Tiffany were our support team for the Extreme challenge walk.
Bradford Bulls Supporters Group and Kingstone Press are two of our Official sponsors in 2017. We would like to thank Dave and Ady for your support and look forward to working with them going forward.
We are already in discussions between us both and with the Greek government for next year. We have bigger aspirations !
Money sponsored via The Steve Prescott Foundation supports Try Assist ( Rugby League benevolent fund ) and The Christie in Manchester ( cancer reasearch)
People can follow us on
Www.facebook.com/Rhodeschallengewalk
People can sponsor us on
Www.justgiving.com/Rhodes2017
Amazing really and I though running a marathon was hard work, we wish Ben and Gaynor all the very best.
Sponsorship and our own fundraising for 2018.
As we move into 2018 and the new season we are looking for individuals, or business to be involved with us and sponsorship but we intend to concentrate on the women's team and academy,
All ideas are welcome and we would be more than willing to join in with other groups, we are not I the business of your group our group etc, at the end of the day we are all fans wanting the best for our beloved team. Anyone interested then please contact me Tom Fynn via our Facebook group BULLieve and I will get back to you.
That's all for this edition folks I hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing.
Goodbye for now and most of all BULLieve!!!!
Article is in no way linked the Bradford Bulls, all views opinion are my own, as are some images other images permission has been sought before using.
Writer Tom Fynn. 2017
