Ok. Sunday, Wakefield in the cup. 80 minutes from Wembley. The club seem to be going all out for this on social media, should be a cracking game & crowd.
I’m thinking this game should be closer than previous, especially if we have more of our squad to choose from and don’t pick up a succession of injuries during the game.

We ought to make the game a bit closer than the last time we played them – or at least if our squad plays to their potential and stays fit we ought to. You never know what will happen in a game. Wakefield will obviously be massive favourites. We’re still missing Gaskell, Davies and Smith but hopefully Lawrence is still fit as we need experience out there as the loss against Widnes showed.

Not sure if Wakey have any missing. We need to be at our best and they need to be sub par if we’re going to get anything out of this game. Wakey seem to be maintaining their high standards and so far haven’t been dragged down to championship level. It’ll be interesting to see if they maintain that through the whole season. It’s human nature to only do what you need to win and winning versus championship opposition is a massive difference to winning in SL. I remember we started well in the championship in 2015 but the longer you’re here the harder it is to maintain SL standards.

Missing Vagana
Players available that were not before
Rodwell - massive plus for us championship seems to easy for him and could easily transition to SL.
Thornley
Liam Kay
Luke Bain - think it could be too early as only had one reserves outing at the weekend which he scored
Jermaine McGilvary - not sure but been told could be back

From what EoC was saying post match sounds like Davies will make it, possibly even Dan Smith and Blackmore, but we will see. Would like to see Connor Carr back, sounds like he’s still with us, been impressed with what I’ve seen from him.
Should be a closer game than last time, they won’t be used to our pitch, but a good team can play well on the local park.
If we can get a couple of forwards back then we will test them.

We SHOULD be much more competitive in this game. We were down to the bare bones in that squad then lost Taufua in the first minute and Gaskell early in the second half. As Bullseye said, we need to be outstanding, Wakey not quite at it and probably a bit of luck too. We start like we did against Swinton, Wakey will punish us, simple as. This will be a game I don't think we can hope they'll not motivated for!

Hopefully our tight pitch might frustrate them a little. Lino seems to be tearing teams apart, but he's also prone to be frustrated (Sin-binned again against Sheffield at the weekend) so that might be a weakness to exploit.

Presume Davies is back this is how I'd expect us to line up (in brackets is the player there last time so you can see the difference) Think it shows just how weak we were for that first game.

1. McGowan
2. Blackmore (Myers)
3. Myers (Jowitt)
4. Gill
5. Taufua
6. Holmes (Gaskell)
7. Lilley
8. Lawrence
9. Souter
10. Rogers (D. Smith)
11. Fulton (Butler)
12. Davies (Wilson)
13. Doro (Hallas)

14. Ott (Flanagan)
15. Scurr (Green)
16. Okoro
17. Appo

I'll go for Bulls 10 - Wakey 26

IF we turn up, Wakey will be favourites to win. I have seen most of our games in the Championship and we are a level above all the teams we have played. We are making metres almost every tackle, whilst the opposition struggles to make ground.

Bradford will have to be at their best, and Wakey below par, for you to win.

I’m going 32-12 to Wakey

One of those lose lose games for Wakey - expected to win handsomely.

Getting run close or even losing can't be on the agenda for them. From a Bulls perspective, one of those games you love to play in, with nothing to lose and a genuine chance of pulling something off if the stars align!

Lino, tearing teams apart?! I think you will find it`s quite the opposite by a mile. He`s been so poor a lot of fans were excited to see him banned for this one so he would be replaced by Lawford. (only to find out it was a wind up!).

How's Lawford been going on? He looked promising for us but never got a 1st team game against a professional team.

With the disgraceful IMG plan turning the sport into a gimmick and with it the championship being a a pointless exrcise. This is the only game we'll play against Wankfield that actually counts for anything so you'd hope our lads will be up for it.

It's a bridge too far though - boosted by the promise of guaranteed promotion the new field owner has been given the guarantee to enable him to splash the cash on a loss making full time super duper squad.

If we run them close it would be a big boost to our confidence with players due to back in the race to finish second.

Deary me, somebody sounds bitter

Yes I am bitter. No other major sport in the country signs up to this many stupid gimmicks. If you knew who was getting relegated from the premier league and who was being promoted from the EFL before a ball had been kicked it would be a public outrage. They’d be talking about it in parliament.

So yes what I said is true. Wakefield are the only ones who will spend money on a decent full time
Squad as it’s a waste of money anyone else. They’ll probably win every game this season. I wish we were gifted chosen club status.

Wakefield had the same information every other club had, to say that we're the 'chosen club' is as ridiculous as it is wrong. We were lucky that we managed to finance a new stand out of the debacle that was Newmarket, and that stand encouraged a fan who happens to be loaded to buy the club. I've consistently argued that P&R should be on the basis of on-field results rather than by 'invitation', and stick to that belief...its worked well for Leigh and HKR, but other teams have consistently failed to reach their on-field standards...in some cases despite bossing the regular season but choking in the GF.

Bulls appear to be marketing this game well - hopefully a decent crowd and atmosphere will follow. Pressure and expectation is all on Wakefield so it's up to the Bulls to turn up and challenge Wakey.

For me, it is a bit of a free hit so hopefully the players play aggressive but also with confidence that they don't have anything to lose really.

If both teams play at 99% we probably know the outcome but if we put them under a bit of pressure and standards drop we might just have enough to pull off a shock.

Please, just no James Vella...

What's going on with the 'Away end' at Odsal? been a while since I've been but can't seem to select the area that used to be an away end? are all standing on the one side?

Bradford Bulls v Wakefield Trinity
12th May, KO: 15:00
M Com: S. Williams
Referee: L. Rush
Reserve Referee: K. Moore
Touch Judge 1: D. Arnold
Touch Judge 2: N. Horton
Time Keeper: P. Hewitt

Seems rather busy on this particular forum, don’t Trinity have their own forum.
Don’t know why they would be worried about a mostly part time team, when they are a full time team primed for SL.
Strange…..

Wow, you think this is busy! I suppose it's a question of what you're used to...
Not worried, just that years of being a Wakefield fan means we don't take anything for granted.

It's busy for us, but, we aren't from Agbrigg and can't spend all day on here. We have jobs.


...yes yes I suppose breeding XL bullies is a job.

The points distribution is heavily weighted towards the traditional superleague clubs as championship clubs get naff all competition points, in comparison. Plus loads of points are awarded for TV viewership over the last 3 years which gives Wakefield an unfair advantage.

The new stand etc. don't count for a great deal. If it was so heavily weighted towards the stadium York wouldn't be so far behind on IMG points.

It's just a fact Wakefield have been chosen for automatic promotion after which it will be closed shop making this championship season pointless for everyone else.

Just not as busy as when you used to be a big club, eh?

It's funny to hear somebody from Bradford being patronising about Agbrigg...it has its share of problems, but they pale in comparison to Bradfords. I don't actually live in Agbrigg, but regularly wander through when I walk into the city centre. Reminds me of where I grew up, rough and ready but friendly enough, as long as you weren't too snotty nosed.

Glad to hear you've got a job, somebody needs to pay for the pension increases I've been getting.

I'm not enough of an expert on the IMG farce to comment on those points. If they're correct, I can understand your bitterness...but what would you be saying if the roles were reversed, and Bradford in their iconic stadium were 'the chosen ones'?

I wish it was us. I'd snap IMG's hand off.

Retied eh? Smart move following ban on XL bullies. Just living off the proceeds of your cannabis grow?

What I grow I keep