Bradford duo set for long-term lay-offs as fresh star in fitness battle

Bradford Bulls will be without centre Waqa Blake and new signing Phoenix Steinwede for the next three months – while there is also uncertainty over the fitness of several others players including prop Ryan Sutton.

The Bulls’ early-season injury crisis is showing no signs of slowing down ahead of this weekend’s trip to face Wakefield Trinity in Super League.

Blake and Steinwede both came off with injuries during the Good Friday defeat to Leeds Rhinos and coach Kurt Haggerty has returned a grim prognosis for the pair on Tuesday afternoon. Blake, who has excelled since Bradford’s return to Super League, will miss three months with a knee injury.

Meanwhile, Steinwede’s ankle injury picked up against the Rhinos is serious enough to ensure he will be missing for several months.

“Waqa will be out another 12 weeks, he has done his knee,” Haggerty confirmed on Tuesday. “It’s a pretty big blow, he was probably one of the form centres before the injury so we are really disappointed.

“Phoenix is a syndesmosis so another one you’re probably talking about 12 weeks. He has just had surgery so it’s a serious one. We’ve got a good support network around him, he is a great kid.”

The problems do not stop there for the Bulls either. Sutton, who has been one of Bradford’s standout players in 2026, is struggling with an ongoing fitness issue in his quad, making him a doubt for the West Yorkshire derby against Trinity on Saturday evening.

There could be returns for the likes of Ebon Scurr, but Haggerty warned he will be likely unable to name a full 21-man squad

He said: “Ryan Sutton is in a little bit of pain, we will take him right up until the game.. because he is struggling with his quad. We are a little bit shot to pieces but we have got fit bodies and some that could come back in like Ebon Scurr and Dan Russell.

“It’s highly unlikely that we will be able to name 21 players in our squad, but I am trying to stay away from loan conversations.”