All feels a bit flat after yet another implosion. Up against a Doncaster side that beat Toulouse, yet lost against 16 players of Whitehaven. Expect a response from us. Then a comfortable win against Dewsbury, before a season defining game against the Eagles. If we don't get a response from the Fev game, Doncaster will put us to the sword and the wheels will have well and truly come off.

Certainly feels a bit make or break against a Doncaster side who on their day are very capable. I've no idea what to expect from the Bulls (apart from inconsistency).... Slip up again and we are in some jeopardy....Really hope we bounce back with a touch of style in the next two games ready for the Sheffield (who have a real tough run of fixtures).

Whitehaven a couple of weeks ago was billed as ‘make or break’ by EOC. This week’s game is of a similar stature. Doncaster will pose a greater threat than a wounded and depleted Whitehaven team. I think we have enough to get the win but we cannot have any slip ups. Bottle this one and it’s looking like a limp to the finish line.

Widnes play Sheffield so hopefully we can grab 3rd place or cement a gap between us and 5th place.

Taking the Wakefield games out of it, there's only the York (A) and Widnes (A) game for me where it sounded like we weren't within a sniff realistically.

Widnes (H) 13-14 - better game management would have seen us win
Batley (A) 21-20 - as above
Toulouse (A) 12-12 - arguably a fair result?
Barrow (A) 24-24 - better game management would have seen us win
Fev (H) 21-22 - as above

If you were to add those 7 points to our tally, we'd be comfortably 2nd!

I know its all ifs and buts; think what I'm trying to say is there are some positives to build on though the results are disappointing....

I think the above highlights that while fixable, they're probably not fixable until next season as the current lot aren't learning. The fear is we completely implode this season and have similar to 2021, where we threw away what should have been a good season, limped out of the play-offs without a whimper and that carried on the season after.

The frustrating thing is that the shortcomings seem to be mental weakness rather than anything else. We've been in winning positions then crumbled. There's a soft underbelly that is exposed when we're put under pressure. Players start acting as individuals or get drawn into indiscipline.

Perhaps EoC understands this too and is recruiting with that in mind? James D for example will hopefully bring some of that professionalism and mental toughness to the dressing room.

I get the impression the "soft centre" has been an issue for some time, well certainly since the return to championship.

Culture isn't an east thing to change in any business and I guess that's even harder with a sports team based business.

I remember Matthew Elliott saying it was easier to weed out people you didn't want in a sports team than in an office environment. You can't sell Dave from accounts to another firm



I think it's harder to build a decent roster of players in the championship because the player pool is so small and the best will always end up in SL. We're left with players who for a variety of reasons aren't wanted by SL teams. I used to admire the culture at Batley a few years back as they used to punch well above their weight. We need to do the same, at a higher level. It'll be harder because we'll keep losing our best to SL.

Bulls 21 man squad. Dan Smith is back from injury and could feature:

I've been lucky to be able to meet and listen to some great coaches and leaders from across sport in my work and one that sticks out in my mind was a presentation by Sir Clive Woodward who shared his experience of building the team morale in the England team prior to their 2003 World Cup win.

He explained that talented teams fail because they make allowances for Sappers... those kind of people that sap all the energy from a room because of their negativity. You can have all the talent in the world, but you stand a better chance of success by having a group of less talented team players working towards a shared goal than you do with a group of gifted but difficult individuals.

There is one very good example of a player who played for us not so long ago, who was Man of Steel but never got a look in at international level (for England) or even at a top competing SL side.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist that we have had our fair share of those Sappers and still do. Some have left during this season but I can name 2-3 more that are still in there who are not bringing the right energy needed.

EoC needs to keep weeding these players out otherwise our culture won't change for the positive.

Danny Brough?

Smith back is a real boost. Was underwhelmed when we signed him, but he looked good early in the season and I think we've missed him. We've plenty of explosive players in the team, we need a few experienced calmer heads in there now and Smith is one of those.

I reckon so.

See also Dec Patton and Ant Walker.

So Fev beat Toulouse last night to go level on points with Bradford. The fight for the top 4 is starting to look very crowded - need a performance today as we know Doncaster can pull out a performance.

Seems like every team (apart from Wakey) are lacking consistency. A real opportunity (again) for the Bulls to up their game, or risk being also runs.

Win, and we've got a vulnerable Toulouse side on our sights with bottom side Dewsbury up next. Lose and suddenly we're just a defeat from falling out of the play-offs all together with Fev & York hitting their straps. Not sure if we we'd recover from a defeat today. Fine margins.

Seems that way. There was a period earlier in the season when we looked really strong (especially defensively), whether we can find that kind of form again remains to be seen.

The good news is, you look at the players we've got to come back Gaskell, D. Smith, Gill, Scurr, Baldwinson, we've got some real quality who will be fresh at the business end of the season. Toulouse are currently full strength every week. It's just whether we put ourselves in a good position to capitalise on that.

If Gaskell does make it back to fitness before the season is over, do we want to change the half back pairing at that point in the season? Who do you drop Sammut or Lilley? Lilley to hooker perhaps, but Souter has been solid. I think Gaskell on his day makes a massive difference, but is it worth the risk? Either way its EOC's call and I'm sure he'd be glad to have the choice/dilemma.

we again give teams at the start of the second half invitations (whitehaven recently and donny today) ... the game was just going through the motions and nothing really given. listening, i didnt think donny could score many (just the one) and after the 6 sets at the start of the second half on our line and with the bulls fans lapping up our defensive effort, it was only going to be time until we eventually took the game. a patient game won

Only time before you took the game??? You offered nothing until gone 60 mins when the ref took you upfield with terrible penalty calls, admittingly your defence was very good especially as we camped on your line for the 1st 20 mins of the 2nd half but to say it was only a matter of time is arrogant and untrue on all fronts. Fair play to the traveling support you took although i didn't know why they wasn't let into the ground until the 63nd minute.

Played pretty awful for large parts, dread to think what the completion rate was in the first 60 mins. Thankfully we defended really well, which is just as well when you can't catch, kick or pass a ball. If Donny had gone two scores up I'm not sure we would be 3rd in the table right now.

We did however take our chances well in the final 15 minutes and came home with the points. Eribe Doro was immense again, we are going to miss his energy massively next year.

EOC must be concerned with the form we are in at the moment though.

Agreed, thought that was a frustrating game, we were pretty ineffective for much of the game and given the way things have gone in close games recently i feared the worst. Pleased we stuck at it defensively and when the opportunities presented themselves we were able to capitalise. Credit to Donny, they made that hard work. Up to 3rd, lets enjoy the win.

That was a tough watch! We constantly made simple mistakes that should have been easily avoided. Misplaced passes, poor decision-making, and a general lack of cohesion made it seem like we were doing everything we could to keep Doncaster in the game during the first 60 mins of the game. Our defense, however, was resolute. Despite the errors in other areas of the pitch, we managed to keep our shape and hold off the opposition, who, to be fair, were clueless when they got near our goal. We faced 4 repeat sets with a man down and withstood their attack. Richard Horne will be fuming about that.

For the majority of the game, it looked like it could go either way. If we had been up against a better team, there's no doubt we would have been punished for our sloppy play. But as it turned out, the opposition was just as ineffective, and we managed to keep them at bay.

Then, in the final 10 minutes, we finally turned on a bit of class. Taufua's break up field swayed momentum in our favour and Doncaster never got back into the game. Lilley's try sparked us into life, and suddenly, the scoreline looked much more flattering than the performance deserved with Appo and Holmes grabbing 2 late scores.

It was a relief to get the win, but this game highlighted that we need to step up our game significantly if we want to compete with stronger teams going into the play offs. The result may look good on paper, but today's performance still leaves plenty of room for improvement. When we stopped dropping the ball and started completing our sets we pinned Doncaster into their own half.

MOTM: Doro

Whilst there’s obviously so much improvement that can be made, the fact we’re in the hunt for 2nd speaks volumes about the quality in this team for me.

After all the injuries, changes and players used etc to be in contention is an achievement. And before you all say it; every club will have could have/should have results. The fact of the matter is, with 5 games left we’re within 1 point off 2nd, which we’d all have taken.

Yet reading social media you’d think we were 9th like in 2022. Well aware that we haven’t been at our best recently, but find some of the comments baffling.

Having sat below some fans singing Nigel out yesterday, I do wonder what more the club can do, having got the lease back and building a hugely competitive squad for 2025