Just as bad as last week. Were not going to make the playoffs unless we see drastic improvements. Only positives for me were sammut & kear. Oh and Langley didn't get injured.

Catalans are a quality side though and will be challenging for top 4.

We really need elima back, we have no aggression in the forwards.

The first thing we've got to realise is we lost to a class outfit today who will be in the top four, if not then they'll be 5th.

Individual mistakes in defence (particularly in the first half) killed the game off. That needs to be addressed.

Koppy, Sammut and Kear all put themselves about well. Particularly impressed with the spark you get from Sammut. Langley was poor and quite frankly, I look at the team and wonder where he fits into it now. Walker for me as well, had a shocker. Sooner Lulia is in the side the better.

Still, there is NO reason to assume we're going to finish bottom or anything like that. We've had one game! But plenty to work on.

Why are we such a poor team, surely its the coaching because on paper ist not that bad of a side.

Aye, only one game. Need to up it though. Elima, whitehead & mnm are needed.

Weve been saying only one game for the last 4 seasons, it's getting boring,i know its only the first game but there is no effort and i dont like Potters tatics.

How do you know his tactics today? They obviously weren't followed or executed by the players.

It was an extremely disappointing afternoon, and on the face of it, not much to be optimistic about. And yet.

First of all, for practically all the game, we never did anything. At all. Yes, we went through the mechanics of the game, much of the tackling was not bad, some of the basic attacking play was not bad, but it seemed as if we could never rise above the "not bad".

Nothing happened. Ever.

The most excitement was Langley's diagonal run for his try, apart from that, it reminded me of one of those old fashioned wrestling matches, where each week they put in one of the blokes you had never heard of to be the whipping boy, and told him he was only allowed to go through the basic motions, but don't do anything flash or detract from the main man, until the xth round, when you go down.

Catalans looked in a decent groove already, and one very big difference between teh two teams was that they looked and are a team where they all know each other's game, know where they'll go and what they'll do, and are now working on the finer points. Whereas we look like a bunch of strangers, which largely, we are.

Someone asked me before the game how I thought we'd go. I said that I thought we had bought well enough, but because we are a brand new team, it would take at least 2 months for me to expect the team to have developed anything like an understanding, and to start to gel as a team. After the game, I am not sure 2 months wasn't optimistic.

Gale was a bit of an Awfor, he showed some good touches, but was never near dictating any play, yet I feel I can hardly criticise him when he was behind a pack that was utterly dominated from start to finish. It was men against boys, and this is where our season may get stuck. We haven't, on today's showing, got a competitive pack. Kopczak showed some dog, the rest were pretty ordinary. Sammut was Sammut, in flashes, but again there's no opportunity to shine when your pack is being paggered, and I also liked the look of Kear, and Purtell did some good things.

The scoreline is not a fair reflection of the game, though. We deserved to lose by far more. Probably only the conditions kept it down.

Despite a bit of the headless chicken syndrome, I would not fault the team for lack of effort. I kept an eye on them after each score, and you could see that it was hurting. And there is no doubt that we did slowly improve as the game went on, and again, I have no doubt that we kept on trying to the end. And that is itself a major improvement on some of our recent performances.

If it has not dented the confidence too much, I think we will have come on a lot for having had a fully competitive and adverse 80 minutes. I genuinely believe that there is a lot of potential in that side, but I had hoped for much better for their first outing. I hope they all spend a lot of time watching the video.

What's the point in having wingers, we never pass to them. We don't support in attack and our defence was shocking.

Chev Walker offers nothing, Langley had a nightmare apart from his try.

We've changed most of te starting players from McNamara's time, so what's the excuse?

So it's come to this, aiming to not finish bottom of the league.

Jeez, if all we get is one line hyperbole all season, then it ain't gonna be much of a discussion forum. I blame Twitter.

A one line post is not as valid as a longer or rambling message because?

We seemed to start this season off exactly as we left off last season. Groundhog day.

Pretty disappointing, even if we were up against a combination of a likely top-4 side and Child and with some key players missing. Slower and seemingly less enthusiastic in all departments. Camped on their line and we couldn't score. Trying to barge down the middle when up against a huge pack like theirs...smart tactics. And Beaver showed us once again how you play the game. Mind you, he's only 47 or thereabouts.

Sammut and Kear gave hope on the enthusiasm front, sand you could see the team was gutted every score they conceded. Looked worrying for Bateman, just hope not as bad as it looked.

But I really saw nothing today that was very much different to last season. Maybe more enthusiasm, but the execution remained the same.

That said, Pies are not happy chappies tonight and Wire not too chuffed either - so maybe its a fair call not to read too much into one match against a strong opposition.

If anyone cares what I've got to say about todays game.. you can read it .[url=http://bradfordbulls.wordpress.com/2012/02/05/the-case-for-the-defence-mlord-bulls-12-34-dragons/here[/url

WTF was that? New season, new players, same old sh11t. Dire.

Disappointing after yet another promise of a new dawn

Yeah OK, we had a few players missing - but then so did Catalans, and they still dominated us from the start. The problem, it seems to me, is that our pack just doesn't look dominant enough. Kopczak seemed to be only one that had a bit of 'go forward' about him. Hargreaves: what does he do? Scruton: nowhere near the player he was a couple of years back Burgess: 15 minute cameo then disappears never to return Donaldson: nothing in attack Sibbit : Why is he even playing for us?

I though Gale and Sammut showed nice touches, and there was promise from Kear, but who could really judge any of the back line when the forwards were battered from start to finish.

I don't see what we can do to address this until we get Elima - and to a lesser extent Whitehead - back. And hopefully Manu will have a bit of devil about him....

Looks like another long season of struggle from where I'm sitting. Sorry to sound negative....

Why can't we defend - our one on one tackling was embarassing - how is it not possible to have improved in the off season?
Why do we bother having a backline if we never use it?
What exactly is our game plan - give it to Burgess?
Two exciting half backs - played off the pitch by Catalans pair.
All that early season optimism gone in one home game once again.

Thats what you get with him

A big blow out suggests your pack was out-muscled, which is something lots of pundits have been pointing out throughout the pre-season. Most of your new & improved signings are in the backs, but unless the forwards can match other teams then you won't see the best from these players, and Angela Powers will probably end up being proved right.

Elima is definitely the sort of player that would have been missed, but who else is there? How did Scruton and Langley go?

Sounds a bit cruel to say this but I am kinda glad the missus is unwell at the moment and the weather your way is shi-ite because I was due to come down for this. Obviously did not see it but by the looks of it it was more of the same. Not a great surprise when you saw the 19 name squad, Without some of the new signings we still look extremely ordinary.

Catalans too were depleted and I am sure the conditions were hardly to their liking whatsoever, so why were they so much better than Bradford were? Surely our English players should be better suited to the conditions than the French?

Langley has now been for some time a busted flush. I have no idea how he continues to get a game all the time? He was half decent about four years ago but now is merely a has-been. Hargreaves is a "never was" and Scruton "won't ever be a contender again." With all due respect to the lad, when your best prop is Craig Kopczak then it is no wonder we will get bullied in the forwards.

People will point to injuries - Catalans were the same but they also had to deal with completely alien weather conditions and playing away, in another country, in front of an expectant and hopefully partizan home crowd and that is what makes it worse IMO. We still had the advantages over them and failed once again.

I can only hope when we get Lulia, Pryce, Elima, Whitehead, Ainscough and the prop with 600 letters in his name back then we will be a far better outfit and we will not have to see the likes of plodders like Sibbit, Walker and Crookes in the 19 for quite some time. Because they are just dire.

Nine games and counting Mr Potter.

I didn't expect a victory today, Catalans are a quality side who will take apart many teams this year with that team. I did however hope that we would be competitive and make a bit of a game of it. I'm not suggesting the players aren't trying but I don't think the attitude is right at the moment. Perhaps it's still a lack of confidence or a 'losing mentality' but we just didn't show the never say die attitude that I was looking for.

The lack of creativity is a worry, I'm hoping the new halfback partnership is the main reason for us looking like we don't have a clue once we're attacking the line. Unfortunately it all seems a little too much like last season though. Surely the team must have practice drills in training where players run lines and give Gale options and cause confusion for the defence? The only players looking confused were our own, our attack is so slow and predictable it really isn't funny.

The pack was once again taken apart, we must have one of the softest packs in SL nowadays. Lopini Paea was running through our 'defenders' like they were our u'15's. I lost count of the times Hargreaves was pushed back after driving the ball forwards.

It's looking like another long season, especially against the teams with big tough packs, our pack just doesn't look up to it. I know it's early days but not much looks to have changed from last year based on the performances at Hull and today. Very disappointing.

SLOW START COSTS BULLS is the club's headline. And I think part of the problem. There is a disconnect between the club and the support, also shown by the insistence in the stupid music when we kick off despite the scoreboard racking up against us. It was tone deaf and it loses goodwill.

I though Sammut, Kear, Purtell, Koppy and Burgess all went well. I have yet to see Hargreaves do anything in his Bulls career, is this unfair? We have too many Honest Joes like him, there to be rolled over in just the manner FA describes with his wrestling analogy.

I'd like to think that getting Elima and Whitehead back in the pack will give us some bite and aggression. I'd also like to think Langley will be one of the league's better players again, rather than the liability he was today, try aside.

Won't give up on the season just yet. But won't be too surprised if we once again fail to click and today ends up looking like a foreshadowing rather than an aberration.

We give up. Tell us.

Oh well it's ok we lost because Catalans are going to finish in the top 5. If only Huddersfield & Hull had the same attitude.

This. Whoever thought that we need musical accompaniment at any point throughout the 80 minutes needs to think again. Wooly Bully after every score when we woz gud was just about tolerable, but this is just gimmicky, and disrespectful to the game. Can it.


I didn't mention Burgess as I was adjusting my hat straps when he came on, but by the time I'd done it he was off again.


Agreed. The pass he put down when on for a try was especially woeful. If your most experienced player can't take a good pass in a planned move, what can you say?


My forecast is that come April/May time we may have become a tolerably decent team. I hope the learning curve is steep, but fear some more embarrassments before then.

And I still cry every time I see Menzies and think we were jammy enough to sign him, then let him go. What a huge difference he would have made in our pack.

Would never wish injury on any player but I don't see Langley on the pitch as a positive.

Very few positives today, Sammut's defense being the only one I can think of.