Matt Cook can't wait to launch into 2008 and start banishing the memory of his play-off nightmare.

The Bulls second-rower admits he kept repeating his howler over and over again in his head for weeks after the crazy loss against Wigan.

Cook's speculative off-load when Bradford should have been setting for a drop goal ultimately led to Mark Calderwood's breakaway try that levelled the bizarre see-saw contest.

The Bulls had been cruising at 30-6 but eventually lost 31-30 to shatter their hopes of reaching the Grand Final.

Cook revealed the pain lasted well into his winter break, saying: "I had sleepless nights about that off-load for a good couple of months afterwards.

"If I could take it back I'd do it in a second. At the time I should have made sure I kept hold of that ball and help keep us in a good position, maybe to go for a one pointer ourselves.

"We were winning 30-24 but I made the off-load, the ball went to ground, Shonny (Hape) jumped on it, tried to pop it up to Terry Newton and it got intercepted.

"It's still strange looking back on it how it all went wrong that night. You can see on the video all the coaching staff and everyone on the bench was screaming for a point but for some reason it just didn't happen on the field.

"Quite a lot of us thought we should have been going for a drop and instead of waiting to get a message we should have taken it into our own hands. Instead we just suffered 20 minutes of madness."

Cook continued: "It was awful losing like that and came as a shock to so many people, not just the squad.

"We have taken quite a bit of stick since, not only from other clubs' supporters. We can sense the disappointment from our own fans too and it's hard to take.

"It's made us even more determined to prove everyone wrong this year though and bring some silverware back to Bradford."

The 21-year old, frustrated by injuries last term, is in great shape as Super League XIII fast approaches.

"I've had a couple of years where every time I've got going I've seemed to pick up an injury and it's been like starting from scratch," he said.

"But I've managed to start this pre-season injury-free so now I'll be able to physically get myself to an absolute peak and be right for the start of the campaign ready to try and cement a first-team spot."

  • Start or join a debate on this issue in our online forum - Click here