Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 5:18 am  

Seemed pretty abject from what I can deduce. Lacked punch and creativity? Ill discipline? No doubt the Catalans game took it out of them especially in the second half. Im not sure how long this persistence of running with 3 halfs ; Jouffret went to hooker again? I dont think too much to read into this result in all honesty.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 7:39 am  

I think the main difference between the teams was Bradfords scrambling defence. Halifax had periods of sustained pressure but failed to convert these to points.

Only time Halifax really looked aggressive in defence was when Doro had the ball and he definitely came out on top of those clashes. Whenever Bradford got near Fax line it felt like points were coming and on a drier pitch I suspect it could have ended up being a hammering for Fax in that 2nd half.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 7:45 am  

Greg Florimos Boots wrote:

Should be a tight game despite the injuries, the pitch does not allow for anything else really. Bradford also have a lot of injuries but outside 1,6, and 7, for the first time in many years their squad looks stronger than ours on paper. Hopefully our lads can step up to the challenge.

I said Widdop was past it when you signed him and I was laughed at by Fax fans. He looked so slow and cumbersome last night I lost count of the times he was tackled in possession by our backrower playing at stand off.

Lilley has his critics but he ran the show with his kicking game last night.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 8:57 am  

Strange game and possibly an over reaction by some sections of our fans. We dominated for 30 minutes of the first half in between aBradford tries at the start and end of the half and you feel on a wider pitch we would have posted more points. The reason for the second half performance I guess we could point at multiple things, Bradford been fresh and us been tired after last week and there certainly was a drop off in energy in the second half. Playing with 15 players for much of the game did not help, one through choice and one through losing a DR early doors through a head injury. I expect Bradford to finish above us this season so in that sense it was a free hit up for us.

My main concerns have not changed and I will admit losing 3 of our best players through injury for most of the season has not helped things but the board in their wisdom chose to run a small squad, they also chose to sign Gareth Widdop who you can tell still has that quality but at the end of the day he won't be on peaunuts and it was obvious to everyone that we needed a centre and some big aggressive forwards but instead we splash cash on a player in a position we were already pretty strong in.

Some players are out of their depth unless we are building a team for the lower end of the Championship. Connor Davies is a League 1 player, nothing will change my mind on that and his performance last night cemented that even more. I like McComb's effort but I honestly did not realise till this morning that he had played. Our pack is dominated every game and needs a freshen up. I used to love Gee's aggression but he seems to have lost it and along with Kav, Larroyer, and Tangata they really don't offer much. Jury still out on Olly Davies who seemed to spend most of last night rolling in the mud having picked the wrong studs.

It's not going to be a season to remember on what we have seen so far and you have to think if we can sneak 6th we have done well but 8th/9th is probably more realistic. Hopefully the board can fulfill promises that they made because I don't see our fans really been that excited been told its all about IMG.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 9:27 am  

Greg Florimos Boots wrote:

Strange game and possibly an over reaction by some sections of our fans. We dominated for 30 minutes of the first half in between aBradford tries at the start and end of the half and you feel on a wider pitch we would have posted more points. The reason for the second half performance I guess we could point at multiple things, Bradford been fresh and us been tired after last week and there certainly was a drop off in energy in the second half. Playing with 15 players for much of the game did not help, one through choice and one through losing a DR early doors through a head injury. I expect Bradford to finish above us this season so in that sense it was a free hit up for us.

My main concerns have not changed and I will admit losing 3 of our best players through injury for most of the season has not helped things but the board in their wisdom chose to run a small squad, they also chose to sign Gareth Widdop who you can tell still has that quality but at the end of the day he won't be on peaunuts and it was obvious to everyone that we needed a centre and some big aggressive forwards but instead we splash cash on a player in a position we were already pretty strong in.

Some players are out of their depth unless we are building a team for the lower end of the Championship. Connor Davies is a League 1 player, nothing will change my mind on that and his performance last night cemented that even more. I like McComb's effort but I honestly did not realise till this morning that he had played. Our pack is dominated every game and needs a freshen up. I used to love Gee's aggression but he seems to have lost it and along with Kav, Larroyer, and Tangata they really don't offer much. Jury still out on Olly Davies who seemed to spend most of last night rolling in the mud having picked the wrong studs.

It's not going to be a season to remember on what we have seen so far and you have to think if we can sneak 6th we have done well but 8th/9th is probably more realistic. Hopefully the board can fulfill promises that they made because I don't see our fans really been that excited been told its all about IMG.

Halifax definitely had the better field position in the 1st half but that is partly due to the pitch. The ground nearest the corporate stand gets really heavy early in the season and it's a struggle getting any momentum out of the first 30m. Bradford I assume won the toss and elected to play out of that end in the 1st half.

I was surprised how poor Halifax were, they're usually alot more fired up for a derby.

PS Bradford also lost players and interchanges and the HIA was self inflicted as he tried to put a shot on Doro and end up on his backside.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 9:43 am  

For an experienced former international half, I thought Widdops decision making was really poor last night. Lost count where Fax had us under a bit of pressure and he looked lost and just decided to kick through, releasing all the pressure you'd built up.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 9:49 am  

Greg Florimos Boots wrote:

but instead we splash cash on a player in a position we were already pretty strong in.

Illustrated by the fact Keyes didn’t need to lace up his boots, stayed on the bench.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:41 am  

I think we need to be very careful this year. York did very well to pull themselves out of the relegation mix last year but they had a squad of 27/28. With our paper thin squad if we found ourselves marooned down there after 10-15 games, we could be in for a real scrap. I would say that this isn't Finn's team but he was officially in from June/July so had time to pass on players. I did hear that he never wanted Douglas. If this is supposed to be a year of consolidation under which is essentially a franchise bracket and the operation needs to adjust with savings on the pitch then so be it. But running with a halfback on the bench when Hursey or Campbell could have been in there is bemusing to me. A truer picture after 10-12 games and hopefully pitches drying out.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 12:11 pm  

SingaporeFax wrote:

I think we need to be very careful this year. York did very well to pull themselves out of the relegation mix last year but they had a squad of 27/28. With our paper thin squad if we found ourselves marooned down there after 10-15 games, we could be in for a real scrap. I would say that this isn't Finn's team but he was officially in from June/July so had time to pass on players. I did hear that he never wanted Douglas. If this is supposed to be a year of consolidation under which is essentially a franchise bracket and the operation needs to adjust with savings on the pitch then so be it. But running with a halfback on the bench when Hursey or Campbell could have been in there is bemusing to me. A truer picture after 10-12 games and hopefully pitches drying out.

It would be interesting to hear Finns honest thoughts on the Widdop signing, obviously getting a slating off Bradford fans but he was playing behind a dominated pack, Thurston could have been at 7 for us last night it would not have made a difference. That said I wonder if the signing was forced upon Finn as its clear we needed players in other positions and Widdop is a luxury we did not need when that is the case. As SF says above the decision to have a half back on the bench on that heavy narrow pitch and then not use him is bemusing. It was always going to be a forward battle and we lost it badly in the 2nd half.

Re: The Bulls away.. : Sat Mar 30, 2024 1:42 pm  

[quote="Greg Florimos Boots"]Strange game and possibly an over reaction by some sections of our fans. We dominated for 30 minutes of the first half in between aBradford tries at the start and end of the half and you feel on a wider pitch we would have posted more points. The reason for the second half performance I guess we could point at multiple things, Bradford been fresh and us been tired after last week and there certainly was a drop off in energy in the second half. Playing with 15 players for much of the game did not help, one through choice and one through losing a DR early doors through a head injury. I expect Bradford to finish above us this season so in that sense it was a free hit up for us.

My main concerns have not changed and I will admit losing 3 of our best players through injury for most of the season has not helped things but the board in their wisdom chose to run a small squad, they also chose to sign Gareth Widdop who you can tell still has that quality but at the end of the day he won't be on peaunuts and it was obvious to everyone that we needed a centre and some big aggressive forwards but instead we splash cash on a player in a position we were already pretty strong in.

Some players are out of their depth unless we are building a team for the lower end of the Championship. Connor Davies is a League 1 player, nothing will change my mind on that and his performance last night cemented that even more. I like McComb's effort but I honestly did not realise till this morning that he had played. Our pack is dominated every game and needs a freshen up. I used to love Gee's aggression but he seems to have lost it and along with Kav, Larroyer, and Tangata they really don't offer much. Jury still out on Olly Davies who seemed to spend most of last night rolling in the mud having picked the wrong studs.

It's not going to be a season to remember on what we have seen so far and you have to think if we can sneak 6th we have done well but 8th/9th is probably more realistic. Hopefully the board can fulfill promises that they made because I don't see our fans really been that excited been told its all about IMG.

Surprisingly for such a long post agree 100% wirh every point made. The budget available obviously affected the size of the squad, and losing 3 of your most influential players is just bad luck, but they have exposed the lack of not just balance
but quality in the squad. There are just too many areas where one injury and we are completely buggered, particularly hooker and centre.