Five reasons why Bradford Bulls parted with Mark Dunning

After over a decade at the club in various roles, he only lasted 10 months in permanent charge, losing his position as head coach after an appalling 46-12 defeat at lowly Barrow last Sunday.

That result left Bulls eighth in the Betfred Championship, having lost five of their opening 10 league games, while also suffering a limp defeat to rivals Halifax in the Challenge Cup fifth round.

But where did it go wrong for the 40-year-old? Here are five reasons why…

STARTING ON THE BACK FOOT

Bulls did not really help Dunning when chairman Nigel Wood claimed “high-calibre individuals, domestically and internationally” had expressed an interest the vacant head coach role at the club after John Kear’s departure last April.

That led to plenty of excitement and big names being bandied about among fans, and that brief period of feelgood factor led to an upturn on the field in terms of results.

Dunning made a positive impact as interim head coach, winning five of his eight games in that period, with two of his three defeats coming against runaway top two Featherstone and Leigh.

But with unease over how long the selection process was taking, frustration began to grow, and given the expectations created, there was a sense of disappointment for many when Dunning was eventually handed the role permanently, his first job as a head coach.

It did not help when, a day after his appointment was confirmed, Bradford suffered a humiliating 53-10 loss at struggling Newcastle, with that capitulation followed a week later by a tense fans’ forum at Odsal.

Mark Dunning's first game in permanent charge at Bulls, up at Newcastle, could hardly have gone any worse. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

That first seven days from hell set the tone for the rest of a miserable 2022 season, with Dunning only winning two of his 10 games in permanent charge last year.

‘ALL-NEW’ BULLS, SAME OLD STORY

There was a poisonous atmosphere swirling around at Odsal at times last season, with Kear’s recruitment and new signings implicitly criticised by the club at that aforementioned fans’ forum.

With several players out of contract at the end of the year, several performances in the last few months of the season looked limp and disinterested, while outgoing captain Steve Crossley slammed his hometown club in an explosive interview less than an hour after his final game.

But throughout the winter and earlier this season, Dunning and the players constantly told us that they had noticed real changes in attitude, and that the environment and culture at the club had improved no end.

While only the staff and players know how much truth is behind that, all the rest of us can judge is performances on the pitch.

And despite a new-look squad and supposedly ‘new-look attitude’, the same old failings kept cropping up on the field.

Strong starts at York and Barrow gave way to later collapses, with scrum-half Jordan Lilley admitting earlier this week the team still tend to fall into a hole when a few points go against them, while the rubbish served up at Keighley was as bad as anything we saw last year.

Bulls made a good start at York, but were so poor after a bright opening half-hour. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

To not even compete in a huge cup game at bitter rivals Halifax was a bitter pill to swallow for Bulls fans too, and was an uncomfortable reminder of the trio of humiliations Bradford suffered at the hands of the Panthers last term.

ONE OR THE OTHER

Whisper it quietly, but Bulls’ away form was not too bad last season.

Kear’s charges twice beat London Broncos on the road, while under Dunning, Bradford enjoyed impressive victories at Whitehaven, Widnes and Sheffield, before stunning play-off elect York at the LNER Community Stadium with a heavily-depleted squad.

But they were largely pathetic at home, winning just four times there all season, with Dunning only managing to lead his side to victory over the eventual bottom three at Odsal.

The players and head coach all talked of a need to find a way to win there, with Bulls seemingly struggling to adapt to a pitch made tighter than usual by the presence of a stock car track.

And this season started off brilliantly in BD6, with the club recording brilliant home wins over Toulouse, Sheffield and Widnes, all of whom currently sit in the Championship top five.

What a time then for their away form to fall off a cliff. Other than a gritty league win at Halifax, Bulls have lost every competitive away game in 2023, with Keighley and Barrow two of the worst performances in recent memory.

The humiliation at Barrow on Sunday made it four away league defeats from five for Bulls in 2023. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Bulls never seemed to marry up their home and away form under Dunning, and it was telling that he never managed a run of three consecutive league wins in his year in interim or permanent charge.

(NO) CONSISTENCY IN SELECTION

It was something Dunning used to preach in most of his pre-match press conferences, about looking for consistency in selection.

As journalist Matthew Shaw pointed out during the defeat to Barrow, Bulls have already used 33 players so far this season, two matchday squads worth, with more to come through Super League loan deals, dual-registration with Leeds, and the incoming Jason Baitieri, with James Segeyaro looking likely to follow the former Catalans man to Odsal.

Only Kieran Gill, Dec Patton and Jordan Lilley have started every league game so far, with Jordan Baldwinson, AJ Wallace and George Flanagan the only other players to feature in all 10.

How can the side settle into any sort of rhythm with constant chopping and changing?

Shaw suggested “the players are fed up of all the changes and are disgruntled by it” and while that is purely speculation, there may be some mileage in that statement.

It is a tricky one, with 21-year-old Leeds back Luis Roberts a prime example.

Dunning admitted he may have made a mistake drafting Roberts in from Rhinos to face Keighley ahead of long-time Bulls winger David Foggin-Johnston, with the youngster’s poor performance in that humiliating derby defeat widely criticised.

But Roberts came back for the league game at Halifax last month, along with Leeds team-mates James Donaldson and Sam Walters.

Luis Roberts (left) had a big hand in Bulls' fine win at Halifax, having being subject to fierce criticism just a few weeks earlier. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

The trio were magnificent in Bradford’s surprise 26-22 win, but without them all two weeks later, Bulls slumped to a 26-0 cup defeat against the same opposition.

It almost seems a case of can’t live with them, can’t live without them, when it comes to loan and dual-registration players at the moment.

INJURY HELL

In Dunning’s defence, he has been desperately unlucky this season with injuries to key players.

Arguably his four marquee signings in the off-season were Michael Lawrence, Bodene Thompson, Jack Walker and Tom Holmes.

And yet the only time the quartet have spent on the field together was the first five minutes of the opening day win over Whitehaven, before Walker came off with a hamstring injury.

Lawrence has been beset by a troubled hamstring too and has only made four league appearances, with none since March 6, while Thompson concussion issues have ruled him out of four league games already.

Bulls captain Michael Lawrence has now spent over two months on the sidelines with injury. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

Holmes has been the one shining light, arguably Bulls’ best player of 2023 so far, but he damaged his knee in that Challenge Cup defeat to Halifax, and is perhaps lucky that it only looks set to keep him out of the Barrow and Swinton games either side of Dunning’s departure.

The likes of experienced trio of Chester Butler, Joe Arundel and Brad England have all missed or are missing for long stretches, while Masi Matongo dislocating his shoulder on debut was just rotten luck.

Naturally that catalogue of injuries has played a part in that ‘inconsistency in selection’ too, with Bulls, and Dunning, simply unable to adapt.