i'm quite happy with how the season is going so far. my only concern is the lack of goal kicking ability in the squad. Orford isn't exactly prolific and Sykes didn't exactly do brilliant either. It very nearly cost us against Crusaders.

Agree and could have cost us the points at home to Wigan if the tries were a further out wide.

I think were missing Deacon on that note.

you don't say mick



thing is deacon wouldnt have created the trys that orford has so he wouldnt have anything to kick. Agree though that we need to look at the kicking and only option I can see is to give it to sykes fulltime and let orford concentrate on what he does best. I know donaldson and godwin can kick but they arent on the pitch for the full 80 and kickers tend to go better the more practice they get so we should stick with one person rather than chopping and changing depending on whos on pitch at the time.

A goal kicker can only win you a game, not cost you one.

Yes but the 80 minute kickers aren't performing, might be an option to try Wagga/Donaldson when on the pitch

So no tries in the first 20 pls, although most of second half should be fine

I think we've made a ok start to the season not great but certainly better than last season lets hope we keep it up.

At a base level that is true, at least in the sense that if one element is changed, then the whole game becomes a different match.

What is totally wrong is the ridiculous point that you are trying to make by saying that: ie Paul Deacon didn't create any tries. Deac's main shortcomings were that he probably lacked a yard of pace and the fact he didn't (imo) challenge the line often enough. His passing skills, the ability to put players through a gap, and the way he found players with the boot were exemplary. To pretend otherwise is an insult to a guy who was a terrific player and a great servant of the club, in my opinion.

Up until 2008 I would have agreed.

bulliac you've mis-interpreted my post. I didnt say that deacon didnt create any tries. just that orford creates a lot more. deacon may have created a bit more in his heyday but the stats for the last couple of seasons dont lie. last year deacon got 10 try assists and scored 3 tries in 23 appearances. this year hes got 3 assists and 0 tries in 7 appearances ( granted most of them off subs bench). compare that to orfords 7 try assists and 3 tries in 9 appearances so far. its pretty obvious orford is the more creative player at this point in his career. I'm not, and didnt, say that deacon wasnt a great player for bradford, just that I feel he doesnt bring much beyond his kicking game to the table now. Kicking apart I feel Ox is the better player now.

Watching the championship game.

Winger called Lee Paterson playing for Fax. He's fast, looks solid in defence and he's been kicking goals from the touchline for fun. Worth a punt?

That is scarping the barrel.

There are some good quality players in the championship.

We are a bit short on the wings and in dire need of a goalkicker, just seemed a good solution.

Huddersfield found Shaun Lunt in the lower leagues didn't they?

I haven't read the posts on this thread, but there seems to be a real cloud hanging over Odsal. In my opinion McNamara is an outstanding coach who will this season see his team push for top four and definitely make the top 6.

Given that most imports that come over seem to struggle in the first season, the impact of Kearney and Orford has been pretty immediate.

The Bulls had a shaky start but have improved and will only get better as the season goes on.

I hope you're right.

I'm not sure he's an outstanding coach, but the improvement (so far) within one season is great, and I think we are seeing the start of what could be a successful team under Macca.

I'm sure I read in the program for the Crusaders game, that Andy Smith is on a 4 week trial so clearly we are looking at wingers.

Smith certainly played the other week for the U20s. If his attitude issues have been sorted out, it could be a good signing. Always looked like he had the ability when I saw him play in the academy the first time around.

After that game last last night (well the last 30 seconds of the first half and the second half

), I can say that the season is shaping up rather nice.

The pride and passion is back with this Bradford side which has been missing the last two years.

There have been some big Bradford performances out there in particular from Steve "Beaver" Menzies, who for me is just outstanding from start to finish. What a revelation he has been for us and at 36.

Whitehead is going to bigger then Burgess and Peacock IMHO. He gets better week by week.

Not to mention the efforts of Reardon, Platt, Godwin, L'Estrange, Scruton, Hall & Halley.

Up to 4th now and only three points behind St Helens & Warrington who we still have to play, it's great being a Bradford fan at the minute.

Bring on the Rhinos next Sunday.

Doesn't feel just great to be a Bradford Bulls supporter again?

Mick, you held a rather different view though in the first half, according to your in-match posts in another place? Then, it was season over, almost?

So did post people who I was stood with







I take back everything I said in the first half.

you'll find that with Mick. He either glass empty or glass overflowing depending on how we're doing at that particular instant in time. No sense of bigger picture. Suspect he's a bit bipolar personally

It's not just me Matt, others were saying the same.

We are officially Yorkshire's number one Rugby League club



When was the last time, we could say that?

You'd better hope the Pies do the Midgets tomorrow then, Mick?

Where is the carpet-bombing of the ref this week? I've kinda missed it!

I thought the ref was spoiled the game with to much whistle.

I thought Ian Smith was spot on last night, he kept the game flowing in the second half after giving all the penalties in the first twenty minutes to which the players acknowledged, yes he blew a bit, which was a tad frustrating at times, but Smith had a ok game.

Best referee in Super League

I recall a load of Bulls fans (let alone opposition fans) screaming how cräp we were when we beat lowly Salford by only 7-0 at their place.

It occurs to me that Stains fans would take that scoreline now with no qualms whatsoever?