JIMMY Lowes admitted there is plenty of room for improvement after his Bulls side lost 34-14 to Leeds in Jamie Peacock’s testimonial.
The Rhinos led 24-0 at half-time in front of a bumper crowd of 11,608 but Bradford responded with second-half tries from Ryan Shaw, Chris Ulugia and Lee Gaskell.
Lowes said: “We were scrappy with the ball but that was a little bit down to me.
“We had one field session this week and that was on Saturday.
“I tried to change too much so it left us a bit ragged with the ball, but we were off our game by a long, long way.
“They’re a good bunch, I’ve had them in since the middle of October and they have worked really hard, but they were poor today.
“That’s not taking anything away from Leeds – they were sharp and took their opportunities well.”
Lowes saw trialist Charlie Martin come off the bench in the second half to score a try with his first touch which was disallowed.
A decision is expected to be made shortly on the former Castleford man and Lowes added: “Charlie did l and was strong with the ball in hand. I’ve seen some decent stuff from him over the last few weeks in training.”
Lowes brought Under-19s rookies Ethan Ryan, Liam Kirk and and Ross Oakes off the bench in the second half but saw Jake Mullaney withdrawn due to an ankle injury.
The Bulls boss said: “With the nine or ten injuries that we’ve had, the young lads got an opportunity and deservedly so.
“We’ve got them full-time but part of that is split fifty-fifty with their education.
“They will be in the classroom as much as they’re on the rugby field.”
The Bulls will spend three days at an Army training camp in Essex this week.
Peacock, meanwhile, admitted the occasion marked one of the greatest days of his career as Leeds and Bradford fans turned out in force to honour the former Great Britain captain.
Peacock said: “I’m unbelievably humbled by everything that has gone on and want to thank all those who have played a part.
“I’ve had some special days in rugby league and been very fortunate, but this is definitely right up there with them all.
“Now I’m just looking forward to the new season. We’ve got some good things happening here and we played some good football, especially in the first half.”
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