Bradford Bulls leave it late but now offer genuine hope

And that hangover dribbled into the off-season.

While neighbours Keighley Cougars were announcing statement signings almost as soon as they had lifted the League 1 title, including talented hooker Tom Doyle from Bulls, it was relatively quiet down at Odsal.

A few players joined early, and there was the impressive acquisition of Tom Holmes, a much-needed half-back, on the day of their final game of the season against Widnes.

Tom Holmes (right) looks set to be a key figure in the halves for Bulls next season. Picture: Gordon Clayton.

Yet when I ran my Bulls end of season survey on Twitter for the Telegraph & Argus in mid-October, just 2.1 per cent of the 191 voters said the recruitment for 2023, at that stage, was the biggest positive of the campaign, despite there being little else to shout about.

I imagine that figure would be a lot higher now.

Just days after that survey closed, Bulls announced the eyebrow-raising signing of Jack Walker, a hugely-talented full-back from Leeds who has been tipped for the top.

Bodene Thompson, a two-time Super League grand finalist, made the same move from Headingley a week later.

Last month’s capture of Michael Lawrence came as a pleasant surprise too, with the powerful 32-year-old having spent his whole professional career in Super League with Huddersfield up until this point.

The likes of Papua New Guinea international Keven Appo and the 2022 League 1 Young Player of the Year George Roby have come through the door at Odsal in recent weeks too, and all of a sudden, whisper it quietly, there is genuine hope Bulls can prove a real threat in the Championship next term.

Speaking to the T&A’s chief sports writer Simon Parker earlier this week, Bulls head coach Mark Dunning said: “Everybody’s excited by the names we’ve got currently in the building.

“I’m more looking at whether they buy into the process that we’re trying to create.

“There’s been a massive change of culture. Are they first and foremost good people who want to buy into the direction we want to go in?

“Once they do, then we start talking about who else might be coming in or are already here and how they might fit into it.

“The squad is reflective of what I want it to look like. We’re heading in the right direction.

“We’ve still got some work to do and things going on in the background that will hopefully come to fruition.

“We’re a lot closer to what I want my team to look like than we were six months ago.”

Mark Dunning was candid in his chat with Simon Parker, admitting things were not where he wanted them to be six months ago. Picture: Tom Pearson.

And Lawrence will not settle for what was on offer at Bulls last season either, having taken a big gamble in dropping down a division.

He told T&A sports reporter Harry Williams last week: “Everything that I’ve heard from the people at the top of the club was that the culture at the club wasn’t right last year.

“I think me and a few of the senior guys who were here already, and a couple who’ve come in, can really help to change that culture to a hard working and successful one.

“With the additions that have been made, myself included, I do expect to see a big change both on and off the field at Bradford.

“We should be challenging at the top of the table, no doubt about it. I think anything less than being in the top four and play-offs come the end of the season would be extremely underwhelming.”

Michael Lawrence did not beat around the bush in his interview with Harry Williams. Picture: PA.

Both Dunning and Lawrence highlighted “culture” in those interviews, and it seems, now there has been a big clear out of 16 players, there has been some real introspection.

During the 2022 campaign, any suggestions that players looked unfit, ill-disciplined and were not performing to their full potential tended to be shot down by club staff and players.

Only last season’s squad will know if the latter was true, but certainly the fitness and discipline issues were obvious to everyone, except it seemed, Bradford Bulls themselves.

But there appears to have been an acknowledgement, given the recent interviews with the likes of Dunning and Lawrence, that maybe the club were overly defensive on that front, and that it is important to address that last season was unacceptable on many levels.

Yet Bulls were never in real danger of going down, extremely poor Dewsbury and Workington sides made sure of that, and even if they had performed at full capacity, it’s hard to imagine how they could possibly have beaten a star-studded Leigh side to the only promotion spot.

And that means, whatever was wrong last season, and there was plenty, that Bulls can start with a clean slate for 2023, still in the second tier.

With experience brought in, and some top young talent, as well as a solid crop of players still at Bulls who have performed well for them over the years, there is some hope back at Odsal.

Hopefully we’re still saying the same thing in six months’ time.