London finish cup tie with 12 men as Reagan Campbell-Gillard among FIVE injuries in Bradford loss

London Broncos played the entirety of the second half without an interchange and the final 30 minutes of their Challenge Cup defeat to Bradford Bulls with just 12 men after suffering five injuries in the same game.

The Broncos led an absorbing cup tie 8-4 at half-time against the Super League newcomers and at that stage, an upset seemed firmly on the cards as the Bulls struggled in London.

However, Kurt Haggerty’s side rallied in the second half, scoring 22 unanswered points to win 26-8 and dump the Broncos out of the competition.

But London were hugely unfortunate given the amount of injuries they suffered in the game.

Star forward Reagan Campbell-Gillard and half-back Dean Hawkins both left the field during the first half and didn’t return – along with two more London players to leave them without an interchange bench of any kind for the whole of the second half.

Papua New Guinea star Alex Max then suffered an injury which required him to head to hospital shortly after half-time, leaving London playing against higher-level opposition with just 12 men for the remaining half-hour.

They ultimately fell apart, perhaps understandably given the numerical disadvantage – and head coach Jason Demetriou there was particular concern over Max given how he required further medical treatment.

Demetriou said: “We’ll have to assess them. by biggest concern is Alex who has been taken to hospital so I need to get off and get a check on him. That’s the biggest concern. We’ve got good depth in our squad and the team will keep moving forward, but we’ve got a week off next week so it’s probably come at a good time.

“I learned a lot about individuals out there. Some players I’ve known who I haven’t seen go through that before. Collectively as a group, I’ve had the feeling they’re a tight group but what they showed today proved that. They were filthy they didn’t get the win and that’s a good mindset to have.”