Owen Craigie may be the least athletic looking man in Super League but the rotund Australian had more than enough craft to embarrass the Bulls as they slumped to a first ever Super League defeat at Widnes.

If the sight of the 105 kilogram 5ft 10in pot-bellied Craigie cavorting in the in-goal area via a series of impressive back-flips to mark his match-winning try doesn't spark the Bulls out of their early-season stupor, then nothing will.

The Bulls were simply awful. Lacking in passion until faced with an embarrassing defeat, they failed to control the ball at key times, tackled without intent and shipped soft tries to a side widely tipped for relegation.

As it stands, only Leigh separate the Bulls from last place - and that by a single point on points difference. With an away trip to Wigan - a place the Bulls seldom enjoy any sort of success - next up on Friday night, even that may change next weekend.

The Bulls hierarchy have done their best to put a brave face on the club's failure to capture Gareth Ellis and the pre-season loss of Ryan Hudson and Shontayne Hape, but the damage is clear for all to see.

A side that has contested the last four Grand Finals looked a shadow of itself against far-from-spectacular Widnes, playing without a shred of confidence or self-belief.

Joe Vagana apart, the forwards lacked punch, while stand-off Iestyn Harris tried and failed on almost every occasion to break the line himself, starving his outside backs of possession.

With star winger Lesley Vainikolo a late withdrawal through injury - and Mick Withers and Hape already sidelined - the Bulls lacked the strike power to get themselves out of trouble. And that trouble found them early in the round shape of Craigie.

A player once touted as the next big thing when he won an NRL premiership with Newcastle, Cragie, in some senses, didn't disappoint as he packed on the pounds as his career followed a downward spiral all the way to perennial cellar-dwellers South Sydney.

Widnes was supposed to be one last stop-off on the way to obscurity for the aboriginal stand-off. His performance yesterday seemed more like the first step on the way back.

"I think he is going to set Super League alight," said clearly impressed team-mate Terry O'Connor.

"His back-flip at the end was not something I thought a bloke of his size could do. I wouldn't try it."

Craigie's unusual stature certainly caused plenty of mirth in the press box, but he soon silenced the giggles by evading an awful attempted tackle by Harris to stroll over for the simplest of openers after seven minutes, once Stuart Reardon had been stripped of possession on the first tackle.

Centre Stephen Rowlands had an off day with the boot, notching the first of four unsuccessful conversion attempts.

That miss let the Bulls hit the front ten minutes later. Paul Johnson and Stuart Fielden had both gone close but it was Leon Pryce who finally got them on the board, slicing through from deep inside his own territory and racing away for a classic solo try. Paul Deacon converted but the two-point lead lasted only five minutes.

Nothing much looked on when centre Aaron Moule made a dart for the right-hand corner but somehow he reached out to plant the ball.

In contrast, prop Matt Whitaker's try could be seen coming a long way off as the Vikings stacked numbers on the left, full back Gary Connolly producing a nice inside ball to send the prop over near the corner.

Rowlands then added a penalty to his conversion of Moule's try to stretch the lead to ten and it would have been more at the break had wing Andrew Emelio held on to Craigie's pass with the line begging.

The expected Bulls fightback did at least materialise after the break, but not before Aussie signing Brad Meyers had been shaken up by a high shot that went unpunished and was forced to leave the field.

His replacement, Jamie Langley, sparked the comeback, strolling through a huge hole before selling an outrageous dummy to Connolly when a pass to Deacon looked a better option. Langley was cut down three metres short by Emelio but the Kiwi held him down in the tackle and was dispatched to the sin bin by referee Ian Smith.

The Bulls made the Vikings pay immediately with Andy Smith crossing from the quick tap. Harris darted over between the posts two minutes later and Deacon's conversion drew the Bulls level, but once again the wheels fell off. Langley died with the ball on the last after Karl Pratt had turned Deacon's fluffed kick into a scoring opportunity and Johnson then started the meltdown in earnest with a reckless high tackle borne out of frustration at referee Smith.

Craigie, however, was showing no signs of frustration and he duly delivered an inch-perfect grubber for centre Jon Whittle to streak onto and put the Vikings back in front. Rowlands' conversion re-established the six-point buffer before Craigie landed another killer blow, this time leaving Jamie Peacock clutching at air en route to the line.

The Bulls hit back with a neat try to Karl Pryce but it was too little too late, Craigie's field goal and Shane Millard's try on the hooter confirming the Vikings first win over Bradford since a Regal Trophy match in 1995.

"That is probably a bigger result than last week when Wakefield turned them over," said O'Connor. He was right.