Bradford Bulls boss Eamon O'Carroll seeking right balance

The loanee, who joined on an initial two-week deal at the end of March, trudged off the Odsal turf with an ankle injury and he’ll now miss this Sunday’s trip to York Knights.

Giving an update on Carr, and Eribe Doro, who had to leave the field for a HIA, O’Carroll said: “Connor will be out for a period of time; we’re not too sure how long he’ll be out for exactly.

“He’s gone back to Huddersfield and they’re looking after him, so we’ll get the extent of the injury either today (Thursday/yesterday) or tomorrow (Friday/today).

“However, it’s looking like he’ll be missing for a couple of weeks at least.

“As for Eribe, he’s good to go for York on Sunday.”

O’Carroll added: “Thankfully, we don’t have any fresh injury concerns which is something that I’ve not been able to say for a while. Touch wood, we seem to be okay and we’re in relatively good health.”

Carr and Doro were part of another strong defensive performance on Saturday as they rebuffed many of Toulouse’s attacking threats to claim victory.

Giving his thoughts on the Bulls’ backbone, O’Carroll said: “I’m delighted with our defending at this moment in time. It’s a really pleasing thing to see as a coach and it makes you proud.

“I think your attitude and desire as a team is a reflection of how you defend, and the lads seem to be really turning up for each other at the minute. If we get something slightly wrong technically, then there is always someone covering to help the team out.

“My only issue is that we are probably doing too much of that. I think we had to defend from our line on 15 occasions against Toulouse, which is a problem because you will be punished eventually.

“But fell credit goes to the group for keeping the opposition out for a prolonged period of pressure, and then coming through the other side.”

The Bulls are proving to be a strong force this season under Eamon O'Carroll (Image: Tom Pearson)

One of the Bulls’ newest recruits John Davies, whose start to life at Odsal has been magnificent, admitted that the team “aren’t playing the most attractive rugby league at this moment in time, but it’s very effective”.

Giving his thoughts on that statement, O’Carroll said: “Absolutely, that’s a very fair reflection.

“Going forward, we want to play an attractive style of rugby and we want to be able to move the ball around well. We want to achieve that once we’ve built a strong foundation.

“It’s a credit to the group that they can recognise that. We’re simplifying things at the minute because of the amount of disruption we’ve had within the group, and with people missing.

“We’re playing a back row in half-back at the minute, so it would be really naive of us to play over expansively. We need to recognise the situation that the squad is in at the minute, but we certainly want our attack to develop as the season goes on.”

O’Carroll added: “One thing that I’ve learnt in my coaching career is that you need to get the defensive side of things sorted early on, and then your attack can evolve throughout the year and that’s what we’ll certainly be looking to do.”

Kieran Gill celebrates his first try against Toulouse, which was a brilliant effort (Image: Tom Pearson)

Despite the need for victories and points on the board, O’Carroll admitted that he wants to be able to achieve that in an appealing way by finding the right balance.

He said: “Yes, we do need to win games at the end of the day, but I don’t think we are a team that just goes through five drives and a kick either.

“We do play some nice rugby and if you look at the highlights of some our tries, they’re outstanding. So, we’re certainly not a team that is and wants to be reserved.

“There is a fine balance between playing disciplined rugby and playing expansive rugby, so it’s about trying to find a middle ground.

“We’ve already shown that we can do the defensive side of things, but we have also scored some amazing tries this season, which comes from playing high-end rugby and being able to break a team down.

“The Championship is incredibly difficult, and you can’t just go out there and throw the ball around to score points. You must be happy to get into a grind first, and then you can build your play up from there.”

The Bulls travel to York this Sunday in search of their fourth consecutive Betfred Championship victory, and although this weekend’s hosts sit bottom of the division having lost their opening four league fixtures, O’Carroll is expecting a challenging game.

He said: “It’s a dangerous one. It’s a dangerous one for more many reasons, none more so than them having a bad start to the season in terms of results.

“They’re a strong side, they’re hurting and they’ll want to flip their form very quickly. So, that makes this game very challenging.

“York have had a number of key injuries, like many of the teams, but it may have hurt them more. It’s important that we remain focused and look to play in the right way, or else York will be ready to punish us.”