Bradford Bulls coach Matthew Elliott, pictured right, was in philosophical mood after watching his side slump to their heaviest defeat in Super League since its launch in 1996.

The Bulls' top-of-the-table crunch ended in a 58-14 roasting for Elliott's men, but he stressed afterwards: "We are not going to go into a confidence crisis over this result. It was our third game in eight days and it has been a very taxing period for us physically and emotionally. I am sure that was a significant factor, but it is not my job to comment on the fixture lists.

"It is my job to prepare the team and we lost because the energy levels weren't there to compete with St Helens, who you must take your hat off to because they were magnificent, especially in the second half."

The Bulls were without Stuart Spruce, Tevita Vaikona, David Boyle, Paul Anderson and Jere-my Donougher, who were all in the 17 who defeated Leeds Rhinos on Thursday.

Aussie back Michael Withers was absent again, and Elliott admitted: "It was always going to be a tough ask and that was just how it proved, although there were things I still thought we should have done much better."

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