Our first pre-season friendly of 2023 is upon us as we travel to our former landlords Dewsbury Rams this Sunday for a 2pm kick off. It will be good to see some of the new recruits get their first hit out in the red, amber and black shirt. Particularly looking forward to seeing how Holmes, Lawrence and Thompson get on.

Quite looking forward to seeing what shape the players are in.

Indeed. Especially as Fax fans are already mocking our 2023 fitness. Apparently Arundel needs to be eating pies now to fit in. We should get a very early insight when we see some waist lines on Sunday.

Something that has been mentioned by the coaches and players in the interviews I’ve seen has been a change in culture. It’ll be interesting to see what shape certain players are in on Sunday.

Having seen the players tonight and at previous events, fair to say they’re in much better shape. No big boppas as they’re called, all look like athletes. Bodes well

Could this mean that I might be paying to watch an 80 min game not one we are spent after 30?!

I would suspect they’ve closed the stand for league games in champ 1 where they’ll get a taxi full of away fans at best

Huge set of roadworks on Owl Lane I noticed yesterday. Not at the Bradford end of the road but all the way past the ground itself. Not sure if they'll still be there on Sunday but I'd advise people to check beforehand and set off early just in case.

Squad for Dewsbury

Does anyone know if Mick Gledhill is covering this live on radio?

Yes I think he is

Thsnks for that.

All the best for the new season (or in this case pre-season). Will this match be available on Bulls TV later? Been a bit starved of late!

Same to you Bongser and yes I would be very surprised if it wasn't on Bulls TV on Tuesday or Wednesdsy

Worth mentioning this again. The club have also posted that there are expected traffic delays.

Quote ="Peter Goddard"Does anyone know if Mick Gledhill is covering this live on radio?'" https://west-yorkshire-rugby-league.mixlr.com

Quote ="Peter Goddard"Does anyone know if Mick Gledhill is covering this live on radio?'" https://west-yorkshire-rugby-league.mixlr.com

Well I enjoyed my fix of Rugby. Solid but unspectacular as you'd probably expect for our first game and on a heavy pitch. And I didn't spot any outrageous waist lines apart from my own so that's progress!

Entertaining game. Players looked fitter. The Walker and Lawford tries were highlights. Thought Lawford, Holmes, Foster, Wallace and Butler looked decent. Lilley always looks better at dummy half as well IMO.

We looked well in control when we had first teamers out there. Obviously it got a bit scrappy when we made a bunch of changes but that's to be expected.

Yes a decent game of rugby league especially for £10.

I was a bit worried about the lack of impact especially early foot but we had the quality to carve them open. Hopefully with some players to come in who didn’t play today we will look even better but I suppose it does highlight the need for a prop or two more for when injuries bite / when we come up against the bigger sides.

Overall looked a better attitude and desire which is all most of us want to see so well in. Happy with the performance and to get back onto the terraces

To be fair, we were missing Lawrence, Thompson, Scurr and Baldwinson who will possibly be the four starting props

From what I saw today Green and Rogers look a bit off 1st team level.

I would agree but I think the bloke behind me screaming at bulls to get a grip when it was a team full of kids felt a tad out of order

A decent hit out for Mark Dunning's men. I felt that we controlled the game from the early stages of the first half and played some good stuff for a first game back. It was great to see Walker and Holmes play, an improvement on what we had last year. I felt that Wallace, Butler and England did well getting yards on the edge with Holmes, Lawford and Walker providing that creativity. We scored a couple of nice fast tries from deep, which was good to see on such a heavy pitch. Having Lilley at 9 is an interesting statement from MD. I assume he will move between the hooking and halves positions when needed this season.

I felt that the scoreline flattered Dewsbury in the end as they scored 2 late tries when we had our Academy players finishing the game. In conclusion, a game that provided some good rugby and builds some level of excitement under the new regime.

MOTM: Lawford

I agree. It's still very early in the year and I wouldn't want to write them off after one pre-season friendly. If we lose some of our middles to injury I feel we may be lacking some real quality going forward. Hopefully they prove me wrong this season.

To be fair I felt green grew into the game