Inside Bradford Bulls’ ‘bold, brave and exciting’ attack as coach details ‘relentless’ preparations

It’s fair to say Bradford Bulls have not taken the safe route with their return to Super League. 

The newly promoted side have come back into the top flight all guns blazing, following their return to the top flight. A bold club rebrand swiftly after their promotion marked the start of things to come, but since then it has been loud and proud. Bullsmania 2.0, if you will.

And, with the noises off the pitch being unapologetically bold, the style of play on has been custom-built to reflect it.

‘It’s practised skill, that’s what we always say’

The Bulls have flicked a switch under new head coach and former Salford Red Devils assistant Kurt Haggerty, turning towards more ‘heavy metal rugby’ to borrow a phrase from our friends in football, and it’s getting them a reputation.

Bradford have scored 220 points in their 12 outings and have also posted 37 tries in that time. While that might not seem like many compared to the likes of heavy-hitters Leeds Rhinos or Warrington Wolves, it comes with the Bulls in the midst of one of the worst injury plagues in the league and only in their first season back in Super League. It is also virtually an entirely new unit, albeit some might have played together in other colours.

In context, too, they are on course to end the season with a tally of 495 points scored across the 27-game season, which would have seen them ranked the 8th-best attack in the league last season.

Building a system like this normally takes time, years, but Bradford have done it in mere months. It’s no accident either.

“Kurt’s come in with his own philosophy, but me and Lee (Greenwood) have got on board with that,” explained assistant coach Carl Forber, who himself only arrived at Odsal this off-season. “I’ve known Haggy for a number of years, and the way we see the game is very similar.

“It’s practised skill, that’s what we always say. What we do on a weekend isn’t made up, there’s a lot of detail that’s gone into the attack. In pre-season, we were doing double video days – which is unheard of – and double skill days in the wet, the wind or the snow. We were relentless with it.

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“We’ve got a philosophy, it’s all practised and then the boys can buy into it once we can evidence it working. Then, the type of player that we’ve got and that we’ve recruited has revolved around this style of play. We can see that on matchdays, it’s paying off.

‘It’s refreshing as well’

“If you show players our style, it’s what they want. We’re not asking them to run into brick walls or play five drives and a kick; we want them to express themselves. We’re showing them why we want to play this way. As a player, I would have loved a coach to tell me to play the way Haggy wants us to play!”

Choosing to play a style like this is always going to come with its risks, especially for a newly promoted side, but Forber believes it’s a breath of fresh air for the league.

“It’s refreshing as well,” he detailed. “You watch us, we’ve come into this competition on a quick turnover (from the Championship), and people are talking about the style of play. That’s really encouraging for us as coaches.”

“The easier way would be to just take five carries, kick it to a corner and try to defend it. What we’ve done is bold, brave and exciting and is what the fans should be expecting to see when they pay their money to come through the gate.

“We could have done it a different way. It would have taken a lot less coaching and a lot less time on the training field, but we’ve put the hours in. Let’s be honest, we’ve got a long way to go and we’re not the finished article, but the aim is to keep improving every week and playing our style.

“I don’t think you’ll ever get the finished article, but if we can keep adding layers onto our play and working towards that, hopefully it’s exciting times for the club.”

It’s fair to say Bradford Bulls have actively chosen not to play the safe way, and Super League is all the better for it.