Bradford Bulls 40 Wakefield 16

 Bulls boss Mick Potter believes his new-look team took a giant step forward by rounding off their pre-season calendar with victory against Wakefield.

After presiding over a winter of sweeping change at Odsal, Potter knows time is not on his side as he attempts to forge a strong team unit.

But, with just two weeks remaining until the Super League opener against Leeds, the Aussie reckons it’s a case of so far, so good.

All 11 new faces were on show against Wakefield in the final friendly, contributing to the 2011 Bulls’ most cohesive performance yet.

“We might not be quite at our best when the season starts but this game has taken us a giant step forward,” said Potter.

“I’m satisfied. I think they came up with some really good plays in attack and, defensively, we handled what they threw at us pretty well.

“The scoreline’s probably the right reflection of the game. I thought we did all right against a Wakefield side that is restricted on their numbers.”

Although the scoreboard took some time to start properly ticking over, both sides produced – and bombed – plenty of opportunities.

Bradford had the majority of them but showed a slightly worrying tendency to push the pass at times when a cooler head and safe pair of hands would have been better.

Still, Shaun Ainscough was denied a chance to open the scoring through no fault of his own, taken out off the ball by Glenn Morrison after hacking on to spark a promising break.

But the spectacle certainly wasn’t helped by referee Richard Silverwood’s inconsistent policing of the ruck area – ten penalties being dished out in the first quarter alone as the game failed to flow.

Unsurprisingly, given their dominance, the Bulls eventually grabbed the game’s first try, thanks entirely to Heath L’Estrange.

A lively presence out of dummy half, the Aussie hooker sold a couple of dummies to leave defenders in his wake on an angled run to the try-line, Marc Herbert adding the extras.

The second try followed soon after, a neat set-move from a scrum seeing Kyle Briggs feed Brett Kearney, his full back looping round to make a bee-line for the corner. Having shared kicking duties with Herbert throughout pre-season, Patrick Ah Van stepped up to nail the tricky touchline conversion.

Despite threatening to pile on the points, the Bulls just struggled to apply the finishing touch at the end of several bouts of pressure – the best chance spoiled by a forward pass when Ian Sibbit made a quality break and tried to find the supporting run of Shad Royston.

Luke George proved to be Wakefield’s most potent attacking weapon and almost scored after a mix-up on the Bulls’ right edge.

A kick went loose on the 20-metre line and George looked odds-on to touch down when he raced onto it, flying past Kearney as he turned to give chase.

But Bradford’s full back recovered superbly, his last-ditch tackle forcing George to spill as he dived over the try-line.

With that bombed chance still fresh in the memory, the Wakefield winger quickly made amends, beating Ah Van to Kieran Hyde’s chip and this time grounding in the corner.

That blow did nothing to dent confidence though and the Bulls started the second half in positive fashion, adding to their try tally within five minutes.

A really well-worked move on the left saw Ah Van produce a delightful inside ball to Royston and, although the Aussie was halted by the last man, he released the ball out of the tackle, allowing Ah Van to scoop up and score.

The big Kiwi converted his own try and it only took five minutes before the points were flowing again.

Moving the ball wide at pace, Matt Diskin and Kearney combined to feed Sibbit and his well-timed pass allowed Olivier Elima to claim his first try in Bradford colours.

Ah Van converted and soon added another six points, getting over the try-line when Nick Scruton charged down Sam Obst's kick and tagging on the extras himself.

Wakefield prop Paul Johnson disrupted the try procession after breaking through and stepping Royston but the Bulls got back on track when Michael Platt made a powerful break down the right, bouncing through a couple of tackles to score.

A piece of individual brilliance from Briggs allowed the hosts to hit the 40-point mark, the stand-off bamboozling the Wakefield defence with a jinking run and an unorthodox one-handed carrying style.

Briggs put Diskin through a gap and the former Leeds hooker sent in Paul Sykes. With Ah Van off the pitch, Briggs kicked the goal.

The visitors did have the final say though, George running 60 metres to touch down after intercepting a loose pass.

Bulls: Brett Kearney; Shaun Ainscough, Paul Sykes, Chev Walker, Patrick Ah Van; Kyle Briggs, Marc Herbert; Andy Lynch, Heath L’Estrange, Bryn Hargreaves, Olivier Elima, Elliott Whitehead, Jamie Langley. Interchange: Michael Platt, Craig Kopczak, Gareth Raynor, Matt Diskin, Nick Scruton, Ian Sibbit, Shad Royston.