Orford out for season

Bradford scrum half Matt Orford will miss the rest of the season with a shoulder injury.

Orford, 32, picked up the injury in the Magic Weekend clash against Crusaders at Murrayfield and has featured just once for the Bulls since, the Challenge Cup quarter-final against Warrington.

The former Manly star has now accepted that he requires surgery to regain full fitness.

Bulls Coach Steve McNamara said: “It’s a huge disappointment for him. He’s a proud man and he wanted to see the season out. We knew leading into the Warrington game that it wasn’t good news for him but to put his hand up and do what he did was very courageous. If we’d managed to sneak through we’d probably have tried to patch him up, wrap him in cotton wool and not play him until the next stage but the reality is that his shoulder is shot. It needs fixing up for the long-term benefit of the Bulls and for himself.”

Orford joined on a lucrative three-year deal at the beginning of the season, and scored three tries in 13 appearances in the early part of the season.

He said: “It’s really difficult because I’ve never really had an injury like this that has ruled me out midway through a season.

“I wanted to try and play on but unfortunately it’s out of my control. It’s something that needs to be fixed because the injury’s too bad. It’s hard because you feel as if you’re letting the boys down but I’ve just got to be patient and get back to fitness as soon as I can.”