A poor first half by Bradford, we should be expecting improvement every week, but i am struggling to see where it is. At the start of the season we were told that all the clubs would want to beat Bradford but we are up to the challenge, clearly, we weren't in the first half. If the team thought this league would be a bit hard at times but we can easily go top 4 then they have had a rude awakening first at Batley now yesterday.
We won't have an exhaustible supply of "get out of jail cards" we need to start improving now, looking forward to the CC with Hull....no chance unless a marked improvement is takes place.
Leigh have a killer instinct and are putting some big scores against some of the opposition we should be doing the same.

Fax will be more than up for it at Blackpool and will believe they can win, We had better be ready for a tough match.

COYB

We haven't put together an 80 minute performance this season, and last night was a particularly poor instance as we really only played for 30-35 minutes.

Somehow Jimmy has got to get it into the players heads that we can't really just expect teams to roll over. Its disrespectful to them, and simply won't prepare us for the Middle 8's later in the season.

Fair play to Halifax, they played very well last night and are clearly going to be right in the mix for the Top 4. Hope they can give Wakefield a bloody nose in the Cup as well!

Remember this is just the qualifying league for the main event. Business end is a bit away yet and poor form or not, we're currently on course.

I know what you mean, but I see it a different way.

First, Leigh may be the best team the Championship or indeed the world has ever seen, or they may have peaked too soon. It is rare for a team to be on top of its game for a full season plus playoffs is all I'll say.

Second, the big improvement on recent seasons, above any others, is that we end up winning games. We have sort of reversed our standard throw-away-a-winning-position late-collapse mentality.

Third, all we need to do at this point is chalk up wins. They don't have to be pretty. It is fair to say if we play like we played in the first half etc however the point is, games never last just one half and it doesn't really matter in the great scheme of things if you had a gash first half - as long as you grind out the win.

Fourth, we have a fledglig suqad and even Jimmy can't know his best combinations yet, as for the players, you have to take into account that a few weeks ago many of them were strangers. Only months and months of playing and training will gradually mould those understandings that the best teams have.

There is a helluva lot of scope for improvement in this team and squad and I suppose it is nice to be able to complain despite having won every game bar our hari kari at Leigh. The effort and the desire to win is there for all to see.

That's just how I see it. Maybe add a fifth point....... We have players in the squad that haven't played yet and they have to be played in their favoured position to see how they fit, and with whom.

I remember the last time we won the GF and we were poor at the start of season and didn't improve till July then kicked on from there.
The comparisons with Leigh are a bit fatuous considering they are a settled side with good players and playing the Championship as a side who've been there and done that and at the moment doing it pretty well.
The Bulls are a new Team in most aspects with a steep learning curve to undertake and are doing it ugly which will be a better for them come the real business end of the season because promotion won't be about doing it pretty.
The CC game against KR will show that the Bulls will struggle to step to SL level for one game but will show us where the Team are as far as end of season prospects.

I suppose the main positive is that we are still managing to win despite not playing consistently well yet

WE HAD NO PROBLEM LAST SEASON.

It can happen.We won everything in a season including World Club Challenge but still thinks it's rare, even in the lowly Khaki league.

or Bradford go the rest of the season playing and winning games as we both are we will both have done very well indeed, and when it comes to the middle eight it will be even more difficult , good luck for the rest of the season guys.

When Wigan were the only full time squad, John Monie said they were always a bit sluggish during the first half of the season, prone to the odd setback. They used to flog the players, lots of endurance and strength work. In the second half of the season they cut down on the weights, concentrated on speed are were untouchable.

We do have a bit of an advantage over the SL teams in that its almost certain we'll be in the Middle 8's whereas they're doing their damndest to stay out of them. They cant really afford to aim to peak late on. Hopefully we will be much sharper.

Good point.

Let's hope SL is so close that no clubs fate is sealed until final week.

That is our main advantage, Cibaman. Maybe some of their best players may well be, 'flogged to death', trying to escape being in the bottom four. Main hope for championship teams is to keep our best 17 fit and raring to go. It will still be hard, make no mistake.

That's interesting.

So, your game doesn't get any better than when you pipped the mighty Keighley by 2 points?

Or that was also you at your peak when you scraped a win over Fax with one goal kick?

And you were on top of your game when you lost at Doncaster?

Weird!

And ripped Bradford apart 30-4 in 40 minutes not long ago.

WEIRD!

Hardly ripped us apart, we just stopped playing. Not something to be impressed with, bit if it increases your morale beating a superior team who am I to rain on your parade

We've already established why it happened. Surely you weren't reliant on your own ref to beat Keighley ...... I doubt he was to blame for Donny winning. How do the club decide when he is in charge or is it just down to chance. Is he going to help Leigh beat Salford.

Yeah, we outclassed you.

We had no complaints losing at Donny.

And for god sake, Stop this obsession with referees, it doesn't work.

And finally I'm off to the LSV to see the best rugby team In the championship.

I feel sorry for you leigh fans. you don't support the biggest, or by far the best team. Just a small club in a small town only known to a few thousand.

Then here are the bulls. Known across the RL world but have fallen on hard times.

Who can blame leigh for wanting to claim our scalp to dangle in front of the other small teams! We have had trophies and success to celebrate in recent years, leigh have had nothing in a lifetime! Leigh fans will be telling their children and grandchildren about that game for years to come.

Well done Leigh, for a few days you were noticed.

Well Weird, different season, I thoiught the discussion was about going through a whole season and playoffs etc etc, not about one half of the starting game of another season. or are you just being presumptive?

Is it really necessary to continue this "banter" about the relative merits of the Bulls and Leigh on a thread with the title Good Friday : Bradford v Halifax?

I think Halifax fans, or maybe even Batley fans, would have had a more valid claim to have said that they outclassed the Bulls.......maybe even Dewsbury fans today but not Leigh fans. It would have been extremely painful to have lost to either Fax or Batley with a neutral referee but they would have deserved it. The table shows that Leigh got the points....We can't change that but it makes it easier know why it happened. However, if Leigh can beat Bulls with a neutral referee then I will acclaim that achievement and hopefully Cobb will be nowhere near Odsal.......unless he's there as a fan.

We should feel complimented that leigh fans respect us so much that they have to remind us how they beat us against all odds, they don't seem to ignore that it was is that threw the game away rather than them win anything

I can't believe how your loss at Leigh is eating away at you so much. GET OVER IT. You'll NEVER beat us.