Given the illness and injuries in camp, Bulls head coach Eamon O’Carroll was still able to field a high-quality squad of 17 in his side’s 48-2 win over North Wales Crusaders in the Challenge Cup third round on Sunday.
But with the ankle injury Ben Blackmore suffered at Dewsbury set to rule him out for a while, former York and Hull KR flyer Will Oakes was the obvious choice to start at Odsal against the Crusaders.
But the Scottish international, the only natural first-team winger at Bulls except for regular starters Blackmore and Jorge Taufua, was instead named 18th man.
That meant homegrown talent Jayden Myers, a centre by trade, was shunted out to the right wing, with veteran Joe Arundel drafted into the 20-year-old’s usual position.
Asked after the game whether either Oakes was not ready to start yet, or if he just fancied seeing what Myers was capable of out wide, O’Carroll told the T&A: “It was a bit of both really.
“Jayden has been doing some good things of late and didn’t deserve to be out of the team, while Will knows where he’s at at the minute, so I felt that selection decision was the best one for us today.
“Will’s working hard to get up to scratch and where he needs to be because he’s had a long time out of the game.
“I don’t think he played at all last year, so he’s still got a bit of work to do.”
That spot on the wing looks like it could be up for grabs for at least a few weeks, though the exact length of Blackmore’s absence is unlikely to be determined for another couple of days at least.
Blackmore’s injury, caused by an illegal tackle from Dewsbury’s subsequently yellow carded Ronan Dixon, was part of a bruising afternoon for Bulls at the FLAIR Stadium, with Ebon Scurr also forced off after taking a blow to the knee.
O’Carroll remains hopeful over the young prop, with the initial belief being that that injury is not as serious as the club first feared, despite the swelling needing to go down before a proper diagnosis can be given.
And fortunately, despite a few scares, there were no new injury concerns for Bulls after the North Wales clash.
Dan Okoro and Chester Butler were both forced off for HIAs, but the pair of them passed those to ensure they are available for this Sunday’s 1895 Cup group game, effectively a last-16 clash, between Bulls and Keighley at Cougar Park.
Chester Butler passed his head injury assessment against North Wales, so is free to play at Keighley this Sunday. (Image: Tom Pearson.)
Another tasty affair follows that a week later, when Bulls host Widnes in the Challenge Cup fourth round.
Amid tension between the boardroom and the club’s disenchanted supporters, many were writing the Vikings off this season.
But they obliterated big-spending Doncaster, newly promoted to the Championship, 50-16 in the third round of the cup on Sunday.
O’Carroll is under no illusions that Bulls will have their work cut out to reach round five, saying: “Widnes are a good side and it’s going to be an exciting game.
“It’s the second of two good ones we’re going into after Keighley in the 1895 Cup.
“The intensity going to go up significantly for those two games, so we need to make sure we’re driving that.”
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