While Bradford away on a cold night isn't the most appealling fixture ever i'l be there hoping for something similar to the tight victory we had a couple of years back...Bulls 12 Fax 16.

I'll be having a wander around Hebden Bridge. Bullies 28v14 Fax. I really hope i'm wrong.

I will be there and hopefully the heavens will not open well at least not during the game. Just seen our squad and we have 2 in on DR but with Calcott out for the year and Douglas having a set back in his recovery why as Leon Ruan a prop who is higher up the pecking order at Leeds than Hudson been sent on a months loan to Donny instead of coming to us. Either Leeds have done this which just shows you all you need to know about DR or he was offered to us and we said no thanks. There is a history of other clubs benefiting more from our DR parteners than us so why should this one be any different. As for the game both sides are missing players so for me i would take any win ugly or otherwise.

It would be very interesting to get an answer to that.

Should be a tight game despite the injuries, the pitch does not allow for anything else really. Bradford also have a lot of injuries but outside 1,6, and 7, for the first time in many years their squad looks stronger than ours on paper. Hopefully our lads can step up to the challenge.

Appreciate people aren’t a fan of dr but with a two man squad Kieran Hudson will probably feature , 6ft 5 17 plus stone , can hopefully make an impression which will likely be a war of attrition.

I'll take any win, no matter how ugly.

Anyone else concerned that we're constantly unable to name a 21 man squad? This is the 3rd 20 man squad we have named in 4 games I think.

We're probably doing everything on't cheap, there's no incentive to do owt else really. Where Bradford are suddenly getting their brass from, well who knows. They have named six loanees/DR'S in their squad for tomorrow. Sounds familiar? There are at least 29 players out on loan or DR at the moment, some going from SL to SL clubs! Leeds, our wonderful partners, currently have players at four clubs, York, Bradford, Doncaster and ourselves. What a mess and what a sad pointer that is to the future of the game. There in a nutshell is probably your answer to why clubs are going with smaller squads. What it says for the validity of the league tables, well make your own minds up.

I am concerned too, and just think without DR we would only be able to name 18.

Bradford are an investable prospect as far as anyone is in RL(see today’s news). Starting at 14th in the IMG table, I would think some targeted investment could pay dividends. Corporate and sponsorship is where our brass is coming from.

Leeds D/R is different. A year on from the disruption it caused us last year, how it worked for us is starting to leak. I don’t know if it is all SL clubs , or specific to Leeds, but they were deciding week by week who was available and if we selected them they had to go in the 17. There was pressure, and expectation , that we would select them if offered.
This year we’re going for targeted loans, specific to what we need, and when we need them.

Anyway, see you tonight, I think the state of our pitch will remind you of home

Seemed pretty abject from what I can deduce. Lacked punch and creativity? Ill discipline? No doubt the Catalans game took it out of them especially in the second half. Im not sure how long this persistence of running with 3 halfs ; Jouffret went to hooker again? I dont think too much to read into this result in all honesty.

I think the main difference between the teams was Bradfords scrambling defence. Halifax had periods of sustained pressure but failed to convert these to points.

Only time Halifax really looked aggressive in defence was when Doro had the ball and he definitely came out on top of those clashes. Whenever Bradford got near Fax line it felt like points were coming and on a drier pitch I suspect it could have ended up being a hammering for Fax in that 2nd half.

I said Widdop was past it when you signed him and I was laughed at by Fax fans. He looked so slow and cumbersome last night I lost count of the times he was tackled in possession by our backrower playing at stand off.

Lilley has his critics but he ran the show with his kicking game last night.

Strange game and possibly an over reaction by some sections of our fans. We dominated for 30 minutes of the first half in between aBradford tries at the start and end of the half and you feel on a wider pitch we would have posted more points. The reason for the second half performance I guess we could point at multiple things, Bradford been fresh and us been tired after last week and there certainly was a drop off in energy in the second half. Playing with 15 players for much of the game did not help, one through choice and one through losing a DR early doors through a head injury. I expect Bradford to finish above us this season so in that sense it was a free hit up for us.

My main concerns have not changed and I will admit losing 3 of our best players through injury for most of the season has not helped things but the board in their wisdom chose to run a small squad, they also chose to sign Gareth Widdop who you can tell still has that quality but at the end of the day he won't be on peaunuts and it was obvious to everyone that we needed a centre and some big aggressive forwards but instead we splash cash on a player in a position we were already pretty strong in.

Some players are out of their depth unless we are building a team for the lower end of the Championship. Connor Davies is a League 1 player, nothing will change my mind on that and his performance last night cemented that even more. I like McComb's effort but I honestly did not realise till this morning that he had played. Our pack is dominated every game and needs a freshen up. I used to love Gee's aggression but he seems to have lost it and along with Kav, Larroyer, and Tangata they really don't offer much. Jury still out on Olly Davies who seemed to spend most of last night rolling in the mud having picked the wrong studs.

It's not going to be a season to remember on what we have seen so far and you have to think if we can sneak 6th we have done well but 8th/9th is probably more realistic. Hopefully the board can fulfill promises that they made because I don't see our fans really been that excited been told its all about IMG.

Halifax definitely had the better field position in the 1st half but that is partly due to the pitch. The ground nearest the corporate stand gets really heavy early in the season and it's a struggle getting any momentum out of the first 30m. Bradford I assume won the toss and elected to play out of that end in the 1st half.

I was surprised how poor Halifax were, they're usually alot more fired up for a derby.

PS Bradford also lost players and interchanges and the HIA was self inflicted as he tried to put a shot on Doro and end up on his backside.

For an experienced former international half, I thought Widdops decision making was really poor last night. Lost count where Fax had us under a bit of pressure and he looked lost and just decided to kick through, releasing all the pressure you'd built up.

Illustrated by the fact Keyes didn’t need to lace up his boots, stayed on the bench.

I think we need to be very careful this year. York did very well to pull themselves out of the relegation mix last year but they had a squad of 27/28. With our paper thin squad if we found ourselves marooned down there after 10-15 games, we could be in for a real scrap. I would say that this isn't Finn's team but he was officially in from June/July so had time to pass on players. I did hear that he never wanted Douglas. If this is supposed to be a year of consolidation under which is essentially a franchise bracket and the operation needs to adjust with savings on the pitch then so be it. But running with a halfback on the bench when Hursey or Campbell could have been in there is bemusing to me. A truer picture after 10-12 games and hopefully pitches drying out.

It would be interesting to hear Finns honest thoughts on the Widdop signing, obviously getting a slating off Bradford fans but he was playing behind a dominated pack, Thurston could have been at 7 for us last night it would not have made a difference. That said I wonder if the signing was forced upon Finn as its clear we needed players in other positions and Widdop is a luxury we did not need when that is the case. As SF says above the decision to have a half back on the bench on that heavy narrow pitch and then not use him is bemusing. It was always going to be a forward battle and we lost it badly in the 2nd half.

For me we had the best of the first half my neck was aching from constantly looking to my right in both halfs. Bradford was more clinical with the few chances they had and went in at halftime in front which was frustrating but that was nothing compared to how annoying watching the crap we served up in the second period was. Yes we lost Hudson early and Eden in the second half plus you can look at us playing last weekend but that is no excuse for what we served up. It as already been said the risk we took going with a small squad and then suffering the handful of long term injuries hasn't helped. Outside of our strongest 17 there is a big drop off in quality when we get any injuries So when the board say we are aiming for the playoffs and Finn says the same that doesn't stack up to me. We are having to play with the same players week in week out no matter how they perform because we don't have anyone else to play and we look closer to the sides who you would expect to be near the bottom of the table than the playoff contenders. If the board think that we can plug the gaps in the side by using dr then we are in for a long and painful season.

I agree with GF with most points especially in signing Connor Davies I mean seriously what IS that as a signing fgs?

We BADLY lack a leader like Muzza and I am even boring myself now repeating that. Our 6 and 7 are NOT leaders. Is Widdop that leader, we will see on drier tracks where he may bloom again but our pack is so lightweight ans wouldn't even match most L1 sides sadly.

All very disappointing.

I seem to have read that Bulls had/ have 6or 7 players on loan or. D/R in their 17, if so how is that allowed ? Makes a mockery of squad building. Apart from everything else Bradford are doing to cheat their way into super league, allegedly !

We have McGowan on loan for the season who is currently covering the long term absence of Tom Holmes. We had around 8 or 9 first team players unavailable on Friday so 3 loanees were brought in - which a clubs are entitled to do. The only dual reg agreement we have is with Rochadale.

I understand Halifax also brought players in on dual reg. Some really odd tactical decisions from your coach and most experienced playmaker certainly didn't help your cause. See you in Sept for the return leg.

We had 4 players on Loan in the 17. Halifax had 2.
Your post just seems bitter after a defeat.