Orford receives visa clearance

New Bradford signing Matt Orford has received visa clearance and will arrive in the UK shortly for pre-season.

The Bulls announced his signing last month and the player has been waiting for the UK Border Agency to grant him leave to enter the UK to take up his contract. This has now been granted and the player is making the necessary arrangements to leave Australia.

Bulls Football Manager Stuart Duffy said: “We are delighted that Matt’s Visa has been approved and he is free to take up his Bulls contract.  Visa applications in Australia have been taking between six and eight weeks to be processed and Matt didn’t receive his Certificate of Sponsorship until November 18th so he has had a relatively quick turnaround in his application. 

“He will now make arrangements to leave Sydney and will arrive in the UK shortly and will be available for all the Bulls Trial games in January.”

Orford takes the number seven shirt vacated by Bradford’s all-time leading points scorer Paul Deacon, who left the club to join Wigan last month.