Bradford Bulls have hope for 2023 but performances must show that

Outgoing captain Steve Crossley’s extraordinary parting riposte barely an hour after his final game for his hometown club summed up the bad feeling that was swirling around Odsal.

Among other things, he told the T&A: “There are a lot of players and staff members that have been treated so disrespectfully, and I share the same frustrations as the fans.

“There has been a real lack of leadership, organisation, communication, respect and most of all integrity.

“People know how much I love the club, so they know I wouldn’t leave without a good reason.

“That’s all I’ll say on the matter.”

There were just four wins at Odsal all year, three of those against the bottom three, as well as a protracted search for a new head coach, with supposedly world class candidates applying, only for an existing staff member to take on the role after all in John Kear’s assistant Mark Dunning.

John Kear left Bulls in April, but Mark Dunning was not put in permanent charge until this televised game against Newcastle in July. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

And there was of course an exceedingly tense fans’ forum just days after a humiliating 53-10 defeat at Newcastle, with owner Nigel Wood facing the ire of fans at both Kingston Park on the Friday night and at Odsal the following Thursday.

Bradford were clearly at a crossroads by the season’s end in September and given the underwhelming nature of life as a Bulls fan over the last 15 years, there was a fair bit of pessimism regarding what was going to come next.

The answer, off the field anyway, has been emphatic.

There was a huge clear-out for starters, with long-serving figures like Crossley Sam Hallas and Rhys Evans moving on or, in the case of the latter, retiring.

Apart from a brief spell at Newcastle, Sam Hallas had been at Bulls since February 2017. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Big-name signings of recent years like Ryan Millar, Matty Dawson-Jones and Ant Walker have also gone, while the move of one of the club’s biggest young talents, Tom Doyle, from Bulls to neighbours Keighley Cougars caused much consternation among the Odsal fanbase.

But maybe that huge change was needed after the deep-rooted malaise that seemingly infected the 2022 campaign.

It is hard to argue with some of the replacements that have been signed either.

The move for Michael Lawrence, a Huddersfield Giants stalwart, seems an inspired one, given his reputation as a player and a skipper, while new vice-captain Bodene Thompson and the hugely-promising Jack Walker were eye-catching recruits from Super League Grand Finalists Leeds Rhinos.

And what about the players that remain from 2022?

T&A Player of the Year Kieran Gill is on cloud nine after getting engaged over the Christmas and New Year period, and will be aiming to surpass his total of 18 tries from 2022, which was comfortably more than anyone else in the squad.

Like Gill, Chester Butler was one of the few players who could hold his head up high after last year, and Bulls were quick to make his loan move from Huddersfield permanent in the off-season.

Ebon Scurr has long been expected to leave Bradford to play in Super League, with reported interest from St Helens and Hull FC over the last couple of years, but he can expect to be a key member of Dunning’s squad in 2023.

The same goes for teenager AJ Wallace, who looked all set to join Castleford Tigers or Hull in 2023, only for both of those moves to fall through and Bulls keep him for a bonus extra year.

AJ Wallace's breakout season last year included this try in a win over Workington in August. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Not only that, but there is a clear understanding from key players and staff that last year was not acceptable across the board, rather than a reluctance to admit failings.

Dunning told the T&A’s chief sports writer Simon Parker last month: “The common goal is everybody wants the same thing and believe me they do.

“That’s from the offices at Odsal to the cleaning lady - she’s a fan and we’ve had a natter and she’s told me about her feelings.

“We’re all in this together. The boys are working really hard and we’re starting to see some shoots of fruition.

“We talk about it a lot, but I never get sick of saying it. The past is for reference and not for residence.

“We can’t live in it. If we do, we get passed by even more so.

“We’ve had a look back at ourselves, myself, the staff and the players.

“It was a common theme that last season wasn’t good enough and things needed to change.”

Long-serving half-back Jordan Lilley echoed those thoughts, telling me: “The calibre we had within that squad was good enough to finish in the top four, but a poor back end to the the year just rounded off a miserable season for us.

“The fans and the board understandably weren’t pleased with us and that’s something we have to rectify.

“The fans have had enough turmoil and bad news over the last few years, and we’ve got to give them something back.

“We want Bulls to be talked about in a positive way again, not negatively like we have been spoken of lately.”

But for all this talk and off-field excitement, it will be for nothing if Bulls don’t pick up results.

This weekend might only be a friendly at Dewsbury, but 2023 could be a new era in the club’s history, and this is the first chance to put a marker down.