Quote ="vbfg"From the Bulls website: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/gameday/report/700 Can I just note that this year is the worst year for publishing crowd figures online since 1895. For the most part they're just plain missing from all major sources.'" Totally agreed, why have Sporting Life/BBC/Loverugbyleague stopped doing it.....Bizarre ! Att: 6,463

Quote ="vbfg"From the Bulls website: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk/gameday/report/700 Can I just note that this year is the worst year for publishing crowd figures online since 1895. For the most part they're just plain missing from all major sources.'" Totally agreed, why have Sporting Life/BBC/Loverugbyleague stopped doing it.....Bizarre ! Att: 6,463

Alan I never leave the game early, the wife was picking me up at 5. At 32-6 I text her to pick me up early, I had seen enough. On way home one of mates rang me to say we had drawn but thought he was winding me up. I thought we were terrible most of the game, even when Leigh were down to 12 men for 10 minutes we were poor on attack and then poor in defence. At one point Addy took a drive in from first man in our own 20, how many teams let their scrum half do that. All in all we were second best but scraped a draw so not too bad.

O.k, a Leigh fans perspective.

Firstly, Ferocious Ardvark is in the main talking a load of old [iBo Lax[/i especially where the "energy" comments are made.
Leigh were not out of energy, they were found wanting in the backs, which prior to the game every Leigh fan knew would happen.
All your tries *bar 1 in 2nd half & the dropped ball interception in the 1st half were scored at the corner flag, partly because Adam Higson is not IMHO a winger. How many were scored in Higsons corner ?

I said before the game that if Caro got a yard or 2 on our wing then he would walk 'em in.

When Bulls opened up & started to chance it in the last 20 minutes our defence also dropped back & held off tackles where previously we had pressed the tackle with good line speed & solid defence.

Our pack was completely dominant & Bulls looked very 2nd rate for the first 50 > 60 minutes, Higham, Hansen & Hopkins destroyed your forward line, along with Patterson *playing out of position*.

Somebody said something like "most Leigh fans view it as a point gained * utter $H!T€ *, just walking out of the ground you could hear tens of fans saying "can't believe we threw it away", & this is true, a complete capitulation by Leigh in that last 20, take nothing away from Bradford, you deserved the draw, you played very well in the backs for 20 minutes, but prior to that you were less than poor.

There has to be something wrong with the Leigh players mindset to throw away that lead, most fans at 6 - 32 thought we would go on to score 50, not monumentally balls it all up so spectacularly.

As good as it got for Leigh fans it was equalled by the ridiculous soft tries late on, a little hand off & a step & Higson was done every time.

No excuses, we were great, you were carp, then we were carp & you were better.

I really don't know where that leaves either team.

Think it leaves us both in the championship next year

The official ones at superleague.co.uk and rugbyleaguechampionship.co.uk too.

Leigh didn't create a single try today - we gave away 5 tries. They ran through our forwards at the start of both halves for about 15 minutes like they weren't even there and slowed down our PTB. But realistically they didn't create anything of note, just mindless defending from us on all accounts, from memory.

The comeback was simply awesome. I've not seen anything like it. We went from zeros to heros in no time at all. Who knew Haggerty could be a creative force with his boot?

Today's game was a great advert for the Championship and has made the rivalry ever more enthralling. Games like this will make the fair weather fans want to come more often, and that can only be a good thing.

Also, try the pizza if you haven't already. It was bloody lovely.

Based on this post and some you made earlier in the week, you seem to have some serious bitterness and resentment towards Leigh.
To say they didn't create any tries today is laughable - they played us off the park for 65 minutes and, for reasons that I am still struggling to comprehend, decided to simply stop competing for the last 15 and let us back in it.

Today proved that if your pack is on top, then your backs can be as average as you like and you will still score points. That Leigh pack was far too big for us to handle today, we simply had no answer. Once you lose the forward battle then it is always going to be difficult for your creative players to have any influence on the match.
I'm sure most Leigh fans will agree with me that their backs are nothing special right now. Throw the likes of McNally, Tonga, Kay and Ridyard into that side and they look really strong. But today it didn't even matter, they had so much space that even playing a second rower at 6 paid dividends for them!

I can't believe Jimmy went into that game with us trying to match them up front. It might be different once Clough and Kavanagh are back, but with today's pack we were always going to get mullered if we drove it up the middle. And yet for 65 minutes that's all we did, barely making any inroads and creating nothing as a result.
Has he bothered to look at videos of Leigh's recent games? He can't have, otherwise he would have known their defense out wide was suspect.
Honestly, I just have absolutely no confidence in him as a coach. Tactically he just seems completely amateur, and then when you throw in his comments about us not needing a seven, it makes you wonder how he ever got the gig in the first place.

Final comment - Mitch Clark is an absolute beast, easily our best signing during this off season. He ran his blood to water today and never took a backwards step.

At least Jimmy acknowledges that it was down to his coaching techniques in the post match conference. Hopefully he'll put it right next time given a bit of hindsight.

A broken hand for Sidlow is a blow but hopefully we can get through next week and Clough should be back which will help fill the gap. How many times will Jimmy admit it was probably his fault as the coach before the owner realises that also.

I thought we came out and played to a lower intensity which showed by the various mistakes and penalties we gave away. Our game plan of playing up the middle with a very structured game also played into the hands of Leigh who were much stronger in the forwards. 90% of our carries ended up with the ball carrier being put on his back. That meant our PTB was really slow. In contrast the Leigh forwards either got offloads away or were playing the ball with our tacklers on the floor. With that platform Higham had a field day making ground around the ruck.

At 6-32 with 24mins to go I thought we were in for a serious thrashing. Defensively we were playing like individuals but I thought Lowes stopped the rot when he subbed three forwards. We then seemed to play more expansively, as if the shackles were off. Clare went from having a non descript game to getting us right back into it. I thought Haggerty had a super second spell and Clark really ran his blood to water.

Even though Leigh brought Higham back on it was too late for them. The pendulum had swung and once we got possession it looked like we’d score every time we got the ball in the last 10mins.

I’m glad to see Lowes saying that the draw won’t make up for the 65mins of dross we served up. Plenty to work on and losing Sidlow is a blow since he was the one forward that did anything for us in that first hour. The weakness in the pack going forward is concerning. We need Clough and Kavanagh back soon. I can see us struggling vs Fax and away at Batley unless we show a bit more up front.

I don't think it's wrong. I equate not giving a toss to a lack of effort which was blatantly obvious in that first hour. E.g when Smith wrestled off three players to plant the ball down after being held up just short of the line. Just not good enough. Once their attitude picked up and they realised they had half a chance the game changed and they were exiting to watch.

Having just read all comments. I don't think there's a whole lot extra to add. Agree on performance-wise, the likes of Clare, Haggerty and Clark won it for us in the last 15. I would also add Pitts to that too.

Think problem with our pack is our back rowers are too small. We've got some good props. Pitts, Olbison, Haggerty are all good players, but when you're playing all 3 of them plus Blythe, you are giving away some serious size. For me i would move Lovegrove into back row as he's too small for a prop and i would give Walshaw a run of games. He was MOM last time we played Leigh...

An amazing game: very similar to the win at Halifax a few years back and also, of course, the loss to Wigan at Odsal. Just shows how fortunes change when one team isn't 'on the ball'.

We looked as though someone has slipped mogadon into the pre-match drinks as we were far too laid back and lacked bite - fortunately, though I can't accept for a second that it was deliberate, we still had the energy left to capitalise when Leigh ran out of steam somewhat, later on.

I'd suspect that neither side would be too happy with how it went, though ultimately the draw was a fair result. We [icould[/i have been well and truly hammered but, at the end, another couple of minutes and we [icould[/i have won it - unbelievable. I know that neither side are peaking this early in the season but I'm equally sure neither coach can accept those capitulations, ours early on, and Leigh's at the end.

Blythe tried putting on a big hit and came a distinct second best. If you’re going to fly out of the line then you have to complete the tackle or you leave a huge gap. For me he’s too small to play in the forwards. I agree Lovegrove should be at loose forward with either Clark or Ferguson starting in one of the second row slots alongside Haggerty or Pitts.

Without getting drawn into too much a discussion, I'm not sure how you come to this conclusion about bitterness - I love the rivalry. Secondly, I already said they ran through our forwards like they weren't there, and you have agreed with me. However, if our defending had been more aggressive (or just better), then we wouldn't have given away the pathetic tries we gave away. All 5 were preventable and all in all it was a pathetic display, for 60 minutes.

So to come to a similarly hasty conclusion, I would say that perhaps you read the first few words of my post and gave up.

You did







I deserved this.

Firstly, fsck right off! Who the fsck do you think you are?! Your team were shot, and even if they weren't, don't come on here being so fscking rude you ignorant prat, who appointed YOU teh font of all knowledge?

Calm down FA you'll get your blood pressure up again.

Posters from Leigh called Ste aren't the most knowledgeable

Yet another signing for Leigh, even if it is on loan how the hell can they be inside the salary cap!!! www.loverugbyleague.com/news_210 ... aints.html

Yet another signing for Leigh, even if it is on loan how the hell can they be inside the salary cap!!! www.loverugbyleague.com/news_210 ... aints.html

It's Richard Owen so I'm not bothered.

Quote ="zapperbull"Yet another signing for Leigh, even if it is on loan how the hell can they be inside the salary cap!!! www.loverugbyleague.com/news_210 ... aints.html'" Saints paying his wages probably helps. It's a loan, and not a season long one.

Quote ="zapperbull"Yet another signing for Leigh, even if it is on loan how the hell can they be inside the salary cap!!! www.loverugbyleague.com/news_210 ... aints.html'" Saints paying his wages probably helps. It's a loan, and not a season long one.

Our defending, for most of the game, was plain soft. I don't like saying it, but I'm seriously struggling to come up with an alternative description.

All 'ifs' & 'buts' though, isn't it doc? As a Leyther, I would argue that some of your comeback tries were preventable, especially the three in rapid succession, while our winger was having a kip.

Still, however soft the tries were, it all made for an enthralling spectacle - 100% better than the handbags at Leigh, at the start of last season.

A coach is expected to accept the blame for a poor performance and credit the players for a good performance. Yes that can be tedious but unlike us fans, he has the responsibility to keep the players motivated and maintain their self confidence.
Some on here have never been convinced that Lowes cuts the mustard. Fair enough - everyone is entitled to an opinion. For some that fixed opinion means they will always find a reason to criticise . If it's not team selection it's use of substitutes. If it's not tactics it's motivational skills.Or of course the complaints about dealing with the media.
Yesterday for 65 minutes our pack was clearly second best- Hansen Hock Moi Moi ( all internationals) and the rest were guided around by Higham ( who outplayed our star hooker ) and Paterson ( for me their best player yesterday) . As a result we did not have a platform for our half backs to receive the ball on the front foot. Consequently any attempt to get the ball outside was easily stifled by their line speed or slow delivery of the ball meant we lost yards.
An example - a slow play the ball, pressure on the receiver meant the pass to Gaskell was behind him. Gaskell gathers it and is immediately under pressure from the defence. He attempted to find Clare but , because of the pressure, the pass was wayward. Brierley is lurking and races to the try line.
Dominance in a game is dictated by the forwards. As I attend other championship matches when Bulls matches permit, I've seen 10 of the 12 sides in the first 4 rounds - I've not seen London or Workington. Of the 10 I've seen , in my opinion Leigh have the best pack followed by us.