It's like déjá vu....

I thought mathers had a decent game, i watched him and he was certainly pulling players into line where he wanted them. Also made some good tackles on our line, fitness told in the end

Thought Mathers had a good first half. Second half he looked a bit dodgy under the bomb and he was struggling for fitness by the end.

Overall more good than bad.

Sidlow was immense.

Why after losing Kavanagh did Lauaki only get 10 minutes?

What is the point of having him in the 17? What Lowes sees in him is beyond me.

Of the other new boys Haggerty worked hard. Walker has a decent offload and Welham looked decent.

Thought Fev were more dominant up front. We looked less effective when Sidlow was off. The sooner Clough is back the better too.

Round of applause for all the players of both teams, the wind was icy and the conditions were very hard.

Overall the Bulls finished the game the stronger and fitter, and our tackling also improved.

But we do keep making it hard for ourselves. Some unforced errors at predictable moments meant we gave ourselves way too much defending to do. But for the most part we did it, although I was tearing my hair out late second half when they scored from that kick - if I had set off, I could have got to it before Fev, yet we had 3 men none of whom showed the slightest interest, despite all having at least 15 metres start on the opposition.

One worrying thing to me was that overall Fev seemed to win the majority of the collisions, and - with a couple of notable exceptions esp. Sidlow - we found it hard to do so. This gave loads of extra territory to Fev, and so we spent too much time defending our half.

Lauaki cam on and did one promising hit-up - and then never touched the ball for about a week! He ran around and threw himslef at some tackles, but I don't know what the plan was - if he can run hard and straight - as apparently he can - why didn't we use him? One time especially in the middle near their posts, I was sure he'd take the pass running on towards the sticks - but it went the other way. A bit puzzling.

Also, we never looked like getting a clean break through the middle from a pass, most progress relied on scoots and forward plunges. Maybe it wasn't the conditions for it.

2 points well earned against a handy looking fev side in heavy conditions. I think we have the foundation of a very good team, our pack looks solid, we have threat in the outside backs and addy/ gaskell will be too good at halfback for the majority of this league. Mathers had a good first hit out to be fair but was finished after 65 min, hardly surprising with no preseason. Luaki cannot be allowed to play just 10mins in conditions like that, it's not enough from the bench, if that's all he's got someone else should have taken that bench spot.

Sidlow was very impressive, Haggerty had a good game and Caro finished off his tries very well.

Decent start with enough to work on as conditions improve....it doesn't get any warmer watching summer Rugby at odsal in Feb!

Yeh Mathers did nothing wrong and saved a try or two in defence. Losing Kavanagh and Lauaki barely doing 10 minutes left us a little short up front. What the point of his 5 minutes either side of half time was is beyond me!


I thought Sidlow was great again, Welham was very dangerous and whoever plays outside him will get some space. Not a vintage performance but good enough to get the result against a Fev side who I reckon will go well this year based on that performance.

Decent 2 points earned and with Leigh losing, it shows we can't just expect to turn up and win.

Losing Kavanagh was a blow, but with him Sidlow, Clough and Walker/Clark, we have a decent set of forwards.

Defeinsively Mathers was good, but offered very little in attack.

Caro impressed me. His hat trick will get the headlines but defensively and his defusing of kicks was very good.

Lauaki will get the stick for his whole 8 minutes work, but it's Lowes that the issue here.

Quite frankly his use of the bench was disgusting and it was all the same mistakes that lost us the MPG being repeated. Lauaki doing 8 mins, when we've already got one prop injured.. Blythe went on for 15 mins then was brought off while Mathers and Haggerty were on their knees. His use of it his so so poor and it needs sorting ASAP

Good to watch a live game after such a long gap, even if it was freezing. On the posisitves Sidlow was immense. He made plenty of ground and I thought brought much more aggression against a tough Fev pack than he did last year. He put on a couple of monster hits that lifted the team and the fans. Mathers made a one on one tackle that saved a try. Not sure anyone else could have done that. My main plus from the new players was WElham. He lost the ball in contact three times but was solid as a rock in defence. He looks like a great winger's centre in the Paul Loughlin mode. Lowes said they'd played together at KR and wanted to biold that partnership. It was a good hit out against a tough team. On the downside what the hell does Lauaki bring? Ten minutes and zero impact from an impact prop. Lowes hasn't learnt from this has he? We cannot afford to play every game with sixteen players. Addy was quiet despite his great kick for one of Caro's tries. I feel that if we had a good organiser at scrum half the gap would have been bigger today. Overall quite pleased though, we didn't lose did we

Wish I could pick up a weeks wage for less than 12 minutes work.
Lowes needs to get real and stop wasting a bench space.
Thought Welham ran Sidlow close for MOM. Mathers was ok but offered nothing in attack from a key position and was at fault for Fevs 2nd try, yet to be convinced at expense of a youngster.

TBF i think Mathers made the covering tackle before Fev scored 2nd try and wasn't in position to defuse kick

Good performance in terrible conditions against a good fev side. Fev played well and were solid up the middle.

Sidlow was the MOM by a country mile for me. The usual suspects like Pitts, Purts and Fergie played well and caro took his trys very well. He also did well to take a fev attacking kick on the touch line and go down without being pushed out of play. Mathers went well and was solid enough at the back. He made a good one on one try saver. He offered little in attack but it wasn't that type of game.

Hope Ben isn't out long. We will need him back as soon as aswell as clough

Id be more disappointed if i was a Bradford fan than fev after seeing that performance today -

Bradford plodded it up the middle for 75 mins of game with not much reward, id be brave enough to say that our forwards made a lot more metres overall than the Bradford forwards less a Sidlow break near the end

Only 6 pts scored against a PT team despite all the territory in that second half too, you definately need a proper 7 to add some needed quality n that off the cuff play, Gaskell cant and wont do it allon his own all season

I saw the predictions on here of 20+ pt victories but at times it was hard to tell who was FT and PT - i think a neutral wouldve struggled till maybe the last 10 mins or so

Onwards and upwards for us - the second hardest away game already out of the way with nothing to be ashamed at

A fantastic impartial view there. For all the metres gained, it's points that count and we certainly scored more than you. Didn't we?


While not a classic game the Bulls ground out a win against a pretty good Fev side for the first game of the season.

It's hard to be disappointed with a win for the first game of the season (and without a proper 7 too) and I'm sure we will get better. Points in the bag though, which is what matters.

That's pretty much been us since we've been relegated. Half speed, but still pick up wins. As for the need of a proper 7, we've been saying that since last year.

Nothing to be ashamed of at all, and with more time to gel your many new players I'm sure you'll improve even more. I see you as a definite contender for the Top 4 on today's showing

As for us, well, it was workmanlike rather than spectacular. Some promising moments, but a few dumb moments as well - doesn't seem we learned much from last year in that regard.

Like everyone else, I've got to comment on Lauaki. So much for him being in the T&A going on about how he's much fitter after a pre-season - didn't see much evidence today! By my reckoning it was 11 minutes - punctuated by half time! Simply not good enough. With Kavanagh crocked after 10 minutes it simply isn't acceptable to have a bench prop that does so little. By the ned of the game Sidlow and Walker could barely get back into the line they were so tired!

What the hell Lowes sees in Lauaki I don't know...

You have to hope that when Crossley, Clark and Clough are all fit Lauaki won't get a look in. Might have to put up with him a bit longer if Kavanagh is now injured.

I was pleased with the performance. Reminded me a lot of the home game against Whitehaven last season. Conditions really not suitable for free flowing attacking rugby. Featherstone look to be a much better side than last year and were definitely up for the game so to get the 2 points and look in control for most of the match was a good way to start the season.

Welham impressed me a lot. I think he looks a much better player than Nielsen did. Defensively solid and offers a lot in attack too. Much better than the players we used in that position earlier last year aswell such as Henry.

I liked the look of all the other signings and think Mathers will prove to be very useful once he is up to speed fitness wise.

We've retained all the best/dependable players from last year and added better players to replace the ones we let go.

We looked very solid defensively and scored some nice trys.

Lots of reasons to be positive. We lost our first game last year and also lost to Fev at home so already a 100% improvement.

Also well done Batley!

Chris Ulugia with two tries and the break to set Ainscough up for the winning try.
I'm telling you, we let that guy go too early!!

This game proves to me that the T&A report a load of crap, Lauaki on for a total of 15mins. even less than last season and he is supposed to be even fitter. (crap) If Jimmy persists in only playing him for 15 mins then it will take a tole on other players later in the season, maybe we should ask Jimmy to explain his thought proses!

Also No big screen, No music for each player when the team is read out, No Bulllets!!!

Think those bagging Lauaki are missing the point. Its Lowes who chooses to only play him 11 minutes. Matty Blythe only played 15 before being subbed again. I'm not defending Lauaki as he's way down the pecking order in terms of quality props, but he played some decent minutes in the friendlies so Lowes could leave him out longer but isn't. Its Lowes use of the bench I have a bigger issue with.

Any news on Ben Kavanagh?

this. Mathers had made the tackle that lead to the kick, covering for Welham and Caro who were no where to be seen. If anyone was at fault for the try it was Ferguson who was caught ball watching and should have collected the kick.

I wasnt impressed with mMathers signing but he did little if anything wrong today. It was to be expected that he wouldn't be upto speed fitness wise as hes had no pre-season. The match fitness will come with time. I'd hope that Thomas will get a chance in at least one of the next two games while Mathers works on his fitness ready for Leigh game.

Lauaki didn't do much wrong whilst on the pitch it was just the short duration that was a big issue, especially when we were already a prop down due to Kavanagh's injury. If thats all he can manage then we need to have 3 props on the bench to accomodate him. Far from convinced what he adds on the pitch warrants that. Once Clough and Kavanagh are fit Lauakis going to have a real struggle on his hands retaining the fourth prop spot as Walker already offers more and would imagine Clark will too.

You recall correctly. He made a good tackle but unfortunately Fev exploited the lack of FB as he was trying to get back into position.

Hopefully Lowes intends to give Oscar Thomas plenty of opportunities to prove he is a capable pair of hands at FB. We've also got Campbell to come back into contention so players will have to be on their toes.

I thought both teams played well given the conditions. Far less errors than I expected .Fev look a well drilled side - some nice moves which will lead to points against many teams. I was impressed with our defence, Fev's second try excepted.
The new players did not disappoint.Mathers was sound in defence and organising others. Welham will prove to be one of the best centres in the Championship- his partnership with Caro looks promising. Kavanagh looked very steady before his injury- hope it's not as serious as it appeared. And Haggerty and Walker were more than adequate
As regards the use of subs, I do agree with the criticism of Luauki. With Kavanagh's injury we were already reduced to 16 and Luauki's ridiculously short spell effectively made that 15.5. Which placed a big burden on Sidlow ( who was superb) and to some extent Walker.
Five minutes into the second half Fev forced a goal line drop out. I watched Luauki walk to the goal line and lean against the post with his back to the opposition. At first I thought he'd been injured but then I saw him trot off and be subbed- never to be seen again. He is simply not fit.I would have much preferred to see Mellor on the bench. Of those forwards in the full squad who are not injured surely Fleming and Walshaw could have made a better fist of it.

A steady if un-spectacular performance yesterday. Most disappointing thing for me was the metres made by the Fev forwards after the initial collision.

I thought that too. Our line speed was slow and their big lads dominated ours (apart from Sidlow). We were lucky they didn’t seem to have a pacey dummy half. Somebody like Mickey Higham would make mincemeat out of that kind of defending.

While Sidlow was immense I wasn’t so sure about our other props. It’d be harsh to judge Kavanagh given his injury but Lauaki wasn’t on for long enough (down to Lowes or down to Lauaki’s lack of fitness?) so a lot fell onto Walker who offloaded well a couple of times but seems to run a bit too laterally and was outsized by the Fev pack.

In the backrow we were outmuscled a bit at times. Olbison got absolutely mullered on a few occasions and we often got picked up and carried back to where we started. Bringing Ferguson on helped us sort that out a bit thankfully.

I know the modern technique is to stop the offload but a few times we could’ve done with a defender going lower to stop the momentum after the initial collision. We allowed a lot of offloads. Luckily we scrambled really well and defensively we looked solid on our line. Our backs were well on top even if our forwards weren’t.

With Kavanagh probably out for the Whitehaven game Lauaki surely has to do more minutes? How long is Crossley out for?