Wigan show Bradford Bulls they are still a class apart

As the dust settled on a thumping defeat for the Bulls, some perspective was required and appropriately it came from Francis Cummins.

The Bradford coach pointed out that Wigan have done this kind of damage to plenty of teams already this season.

He noted that Shaun Wane’s men are probably four years ahead of the Bulls in terms of challenging at the top end of Super League and competing for silverware.

Cummins’ young squad are slowly evolving and showed their naivety at times during a horribly one-sided first half in which Wigan established a 30-0 lead.

True, there was no justification for the manner in which the Bulls allowed their opponents to steamroller them into submission.

But in Blake Green and Matty Smith, the Warriors posed some questions to which the Bulls simply had no answer.

Take nothing away from Liam Farrell either, who underlined his talent with a well-taken hat-trick of tries.

Not for the first time this season, referee Tim Roby did the Bulls no favours, but the one major positive for Cummins was the fact that his men refused to throw in the towel.

They effectively drew the second half 6-6 after Jarrod Sammut converted his own try, although the game had long since ended as a serious contest.

Cummins had said that yesterday’s match would be an acid test of the Bulls’ progress on and off the field this season.

Despite the financial constraints in place, and operating with one of the smallest squads in Super League this season, the 36-year-old has made his team a force to be reckoned with.

As the halfway point in the season approaches, the Bulls are commanding respect.

Wigan recalled a clutch of international players, handing starting roles to Josh Charnley, Pat Richards, Lee Mossop and Sean O’Loughlin and naming Harrison Hansen among the replacements.

The Warriors’ previous visit to this ground came in round three of last season and saw them dish out a severe thumping to Mick Potter’s side.

Much has changed since then and the fact that Bradford went to Wigan and won later in the season – at the height of the club’s financial crisis – said much for the spirit within their ranks.

Cummins has harnessed that character in highly impressive fashion this term and was able to recall the fit-again Michael Platt after two months on the sidelines with injury.

That meant Adrian Purtell could revert to his centres and Elliott Whitehead to the second row as the Bulls sought to continue where they left in the second half against London last week.

Wigan, typically, brought a large following across the Pennines and the crowd of 9,899 was fairly encouraging.

Despite the Bulls having the strong wind at their backs in the first half, Wigan began to exert their authority as leaders on proceedings.

The visitors’ half-back pairing of Smith and Green began to dovetail effectively and buzz forward relentlessly as the first half progressed.

O’Loughlin dabbed a teasing grubber kick behind the Bulls defence in the seventh minute and Brett Kearney cleared the danger at the expense of a goal-line drop-out.

From that next set, Wigan came back at the Bulls again and led in the ninth minute when Farrell, rated along with John Bateman as one of the best young forwards in the country, touched down.

A kick bounced fortuitously into his path off a Bulls player and Farrell marched over the line with ease from close range.

Richards added the extras but the Bulls fashioned an immediate response which saw Sammut almost find Platt unmarked in the left corner.

Platt could not quite take Sammut’s pass in his stride and the opportunity was spurned, before Michael McIlorum and Smith went close from close range.

Still, the Warriors continued to probe and, after Elliot Kear denied Iain Thornley with a superb tackle inside the right channel, Green sold a delightful dummy to waltz over the line from close range.

Richards converted again from a central position to put Wigan 12-0 up and leave Bradford facing a mountainous task.

Jamie Langley came on to replace Manase Manuokafoa but Wigan continued to dominate thanks to the effervescence of Green and Smith.

The Bulls struggled for air but in the 24th minute they conjured a decent move involving Adam Sidlow, Danny Addy and Adrian Purtell, who narrowly failed to put Kear in at the right corner.

Moments later, the Bulls were forced to drop out again after Green’s clever kick put Kearney under pressure again.

Heath L’Estrange came on to replace Matt Diskin but 13 minutes before the break O’Loughlin’s rapier-like pass sent centre Jack Hughes scampering clear from 20 metres out.

Richards added the extras before Cummins replaced James Donaldson with Luke Gale and moved Addy into the back row.

Gale’s 28th-minute introduction helped to breath new life into the Bulls as they began to enjoy a period of sustained pressure on Wigan’s line for the first time in the match.

Yet the Bulls could not make it pay and six minutes before the break Wigan tore upfield and Farrell was on hand to pick up a loose ball for his second try.

With the interval looming, Farrell left Sidlow and Langley for dead with some neat footwork to weave his way over the line for a superb hat-trick score.

Richards converted to leave the Bulls 30-0 down at the break – and they got off to the worst possible start after the break when Sammut kicked out on the full for the third time.

Wigan immediately fashioned the field position for Smith to send a simple grubber kick behind the Bulls defence for Sam Tomkins to arrive at pace in front of Whitehead to ground the ball.

Richards applied his sixth conversion to stretch the visitors’ lead before the Bulls finally got off the scoreboard in the 53rd minute.

Sammut atoned for his earlier errors when he touched down from close range following Gale’s kick and then converted his own try.

But the second half was a scrappy, untidy affair with precious little rugby played, although the Bulls continued to probe with Gale invariably at the heart of their best moves.

A fine handling sequence involving Chev Walker, Addy, Platt and Sammut threatened to cut Wigan apart but amounted to nothing.

Wigan had further half chances to score again. They did not take them but it did not matter.

Whitehead was shown a yellow card with five minutes remaining for persistent infringement after Roby had given the Bulls a team warning.

It was a harsh lesson but one that Cummins will no doubt ensure they learn from.

Attendance: 9,899