IF Bulls captain Michael Lawrence can recover from his back problem in time for this Sunday, he will be making a remarkable milestone appearance.

If the 33-year-old lines up in the front row against North Wales Crusaders in the Challenge Cup third round, it will mark an incredible 350th competitive appearance for him in senior rugby league.

He has only played 19 times for Bradford so far, though that could become 20 on Sunday, but he featured on a remarkable 324 occasions for Huddersfield, while also lining up five times for Jamaica and once with the England Knights.

Lawrence debuted for Huddersfield in Super League as a teenager back in 2007 and played a vital role in them surprisingly winning the League Leaders’ Shield in 2013.

The prop was then made club captain at the Giants in 2021, and skippered the side to an impressive third-placed finish in Super League in his second and final campaign wearing the armband.

He was unsurprisingly named as Bulls’ skipper by Mark Dunning when he signed for the Odsal outfit ahead of the 2023 Betfred Championship season, but missed much of the first half of the campaign through injury.

However, Lawrence was an ever-present from mid-June onwards, and played a key role in guiding Bradford to third place and the play-off semi-finals, where they were eventually knocked out of the promotion battle by Toulouse.

The man affectionately known as ‘Bruno’ will also captain Bulls in 2024, but he missed their first competitive game, last Sunday’s emphatic 1895 Cup group stage win at Dewsbury.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: It was a comfortable win for Bulls at Dewsbury on Sunday, in their first competitive game without Michael Lawrence for nearly eight months.It was a comfortable win for Bulls at Dewsbury on Sunday, in their first competitive game without Michael Lawrence for nearly eight months. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

When the T&A caught up with him pitchside at the FLAIR Stadium ahead of kick-off, he confirmed that was due to him injuring his back in training, not with illness as has been reported elsewhere.

But he told us it does not appear to be anything serious, and he spent the whole game in discussion with Tom Holmes and Bulls’ coaches in the stands.

Both Lawrence and Bradford head coach Eamon O’Carroll remained optimistic on Sunday that Lawrence would be fit to take on North Wales this coming weekend.