Who remembers the big 1997 Sky Super League kick off on a cold Friday night at Odsal v Warrington

Round One
Friday 14th March 1997
Kick Off 19:30
Bradford 58 Warrington 20

Bradford Bulls: Spruce, Scales, Peacock, Bradley, Loughlin, Paul, Tomlinson, McDermott, Lowes, Nickle, Donougher, Dwyer, McNamara
Subs: Jowitt, Reihana, Cook, Medley

Tries: Paul 3, Scales, Spruce 2, McDermott, McNamara, Lowes, Pecock
Goals: McNamara 9/10

Warrington Wolves: Vagana, Mafi, Kohe-Love, Roper, Foster, Shelford, Swann, Finau, Dermott, hambers, Holden, Tatupu, Davies
Subs: Rudd, Currier, Stevens, Mann

Tries: Vagana, Rudd, Tatupu, Currier
Goals: Roper 2/4

Referee: David Campbell (Widnes)
Penalty Count: 8-4
Attendance: 15,017

Only 12 penalties

Always enjoy this, but seeing as we had one recently thought I might as well drag it up and merge it to avoid duplication.

Here's two I don't think have been mentioned - Paul Newlove's returns to Post Office Road with us. Second one saw Andy Currier sent off for clocking him and Neil Roebuck attempt to shove him over the hoardings after he'd gone fifty yards to score. First one was potentially even fierier, even though he was ineligible because he had refused to go to the World 9s and was only on to carry the sand for Deryck Fox's goal kicks.

Was it on a Friday night!!?? Don't remember that!

Yes a Friday night mate. Got the game on now.

How good was Robbie in said game.

His second try was a beaut.

Remember Wire were understrength in that game. One of their most exciting young players claimed to be injured, only to be seen out playing football in an Oldham park the next day.

beating wigan in 94, the rearanged match, over 14,000 there
sheffield 97 winning the super league, was on the pitch and im on the sky coverage when robbie paul was lifted up on shoulders, remember the scoreboard at don valley saying bradford bulls superleague champions and i remember having a beaming smile on my face,
murryfield 2000, winning the challenge cup, we had nowhere to sleep in edinburgh so me and my mate went on a mission to pull birds after the game and bingo a couple of nice girls put us up and made us breakfast and drove us back to our car!!


wcc 2002 newcastle knights, world champions!!

Ignoring the highs we've experienced since SL, ultimate moments that will always stay with me are the 2 games that cost us the league title prior to SL (93-94 if my memory is correct).

Losing to Leigh at home when Dave Watson tried to commit murder, and the draw against Hull when Deryk Fox missed what seemed like 100 kicks at goal.

We lost the league on points difference to Wigan and those two games brought Wigan back into it.

It was my first season of attending all the games home and away and was gutted. It has helped me to appreciate all the success we have had over the last 10-12 years.

A bit of a twist on the thread but hey.....

Does anyone know how many kicks he did miss that day?

Didn't Gerald get four that days as well? Real opportunity to make history missed, that year. Wonder how the end of season WCC against Brisbane would have gone though? Wendall Sailor vs Roger Simpson, anyone?

BTW Foxy kicked one goal out of 7 IIRC though they were all out wide. Think Eastwood only got a couple. Northern 30 Hull FC 32, ugh.

That makes me think of another idea for the club - re-release Bradford Northern, Quest for Glory on DVD. Maybe they could digitally remaster it so one more of the kicks goes over.

I just remember leaving those games absolutely drained. It was the season of so near yet so far. I think we also lost against Cas in the Regal Trophy in the Semi final on New Years day. Lee Crookes nutted Newlove and got away with it and after that Newlove went hiding.

That day was definitely the quietest I've had at Odsal. A fair few hangovers in the crowd!!!

Wendall would have cried off.

Who went and stuffed Wigan. We should have had one Regal Trophy in the early 90s at least. People bang on about Burnden Park, but forget that the year after we had two armwrestles with Wigan at Elland Road, in the RT Final and the CC semi, ending 15-8 and 15-6 respectively. That Northern side got as close to breaking Wigan's dominance as any did.

It would have been great to see. Even though we'd have got battered!

I remember going across to Central Park for the first round of the challenge cup in the early eighties. The match was played in an absolute mud bath. We got beat either 4-2 or 2-0 after a dubious penalty was given against Keith Mumby of all people. Big Brendan Hill played a blinder and we deserved a replay at the very least.

Wigan went on to win the cup that year and thus began their period of dominance. I have often wondered whether a sighted referee and a bit of luck might have changed the history of the game.

2002.

Your treble was a very fine line.

in 06 it was total domination for saints, it was unanimous, thrashings in both finals, finishing 8 points clear etc.

In 03 the bulls were involved in about 3 games with leeds that really could have gone either way. If they had gone leeds way leeds owuld have won the cc and fnished top.

The bulsl won the treble in 03, they lost the same amount of games as they did in 02 when they won nothing.

Just pointing out what a fine line there was between success and failure for the bulls in 03, there was no such line for saints in 06.

yeah i remember that and remember them handing out free super league milk.

also remember warrington making some big signings at the start of the season and everyone thinking it would be their year...

including Martin Dermott who didn't play in another super league game

In both treble years, the main threat was Leeds, who with similar squads to the previous year went on to take the following season's title on each occasion.

In the case of Bradford in 2003, they had to defeat Leeds at Cardiff to secure the cup, at Headingley then Odsal to claim the hubcap and in the play-offs en route to Old Trafford. You say they could have gone either way. This suggests the result was, like a coin toss, determined by chance. But the Leeds-Bradford coin was tossed five times in 2003 and it came down Bradford-side-up five times. The chances of that occuring by chance are 1/32, or 3% I'd say it probably did not occur by chance.

In the case of Saints, Leeds hit the auto-destruct in the CC semis and the first round of the play-offs, so Saints faced Hull and Huddersfield in the two finals of that year.

Saints may have been further ahead of the rest in 06 than Bulls were in 03. However, I'd argue that coming through each of a series of battles with your nearest challengers to record the perfect season is more aesthetically pleasing than an uneventful cruise laid on for you by the failings of others.


Yup.

:1mfi10n8

How can you try and compare a rugby game to a coin toss? You won the CC final by 2 points, a league game at headingly by 2 points and a game at odsal by 1 point (which secured top spot). There were many incidents in those games, had they gone leeds way they could easily have won all 3.

It's exactly the same as, had things gone your way in games against leeds last year, you would not have lost a single game to leeds and would have finished 2nd and probably made the grand final



:1mfi10n8 Leeds were never good enough that year, going out of the playoffs saved us being beaten by bradford and the CC semi saved us being beaten by saints in the final.

:1mfi10n8

Not really true. Bradford played wigan in the final when leeds who finished 2nd were your closest challengers. You edged out wigan in an uneventful final. Hull were saints closest challengers, they finsihed 2nd and were the only team to beat them at KR that season. But saints brushed their closest challengers aside. Remember though that the game was well in the balance until 2 minutes before halftime.

Ditto the CC final. Hudds scored 1st and were giving saints a real scare until sean long snook over 1 minute before half time.

So i'd argue saints treble was better. They were light years ahead of the competition in terms of consistency. When it came to the finals they were given real tough games but saints superiority shone through, like the bulls they overcame whatever was thrown at them, in far mor emphatic style and unlike the bulls i don't think they need the rub of the green in certain key games.


Yup.