KIERAN Gill played his 150th career game on Sunday in Bulls’ excellent Betfred Championship win over Sheffield, and he marked the milestone with a lung-busting late try.
It was a special day for the Castleford-born centre, who told the T&A after the match: “I’m thankful to score in my 150th game more than anything, it means a lot to my parents, my brother and my own young family.
“I got to walk out with my young kid today, on such a special day.
“My next achievement now would be to make it to 100 appearances for Bradford (he is currently on 74), and for a special club like this, I’d be ecstatic to get to that.”
Gill has been on the teamsheet at Bulls virtually every week since signing for the club ahead of the 2022 season, but the path to 150 did not always run smooth.
He said: “It’s taken longer than I expected, due to injuries when I was younger.
“But while I’ve been at Bradford, I’ve managed to secure my spot week in, week out, by looking after my body.
“Playing part-time, with a full-time job, it’s always difficult to look after your family while managing your own health properly.
“But I’ve been able to find that balance and I’m really happy at Bradford.”
That was clear by the excitable celebrations from Gill and his teammates on Sunday, when the centre’s score put Bradford out of sight at 28-6 in front.
It was an odd try, with everyone stopping thinking the referee was going to blow for a Sheffield knock-on, except the alert Gill.
He said: “My mum and dad always said to play to the whistle when I was younger and that stuck in my head today.
“I looked at the referee and could see he wasn’t blowing, so that was me going down the left wing.
“I didn’t look to my left or right, I just pinned my ears back and hoped for the best.
“As soon as I got near the tryline I just thought about diving and doing my best to get over.”
It meant he did not need Aidan McGowan on that occasion, but the full back did an excellent job as a makeshift winger next to Gill against the Eagles, the pair combining for the Huddersfield youngster to score in the first half.
Gill has had a number of different men on his outside this season due to injuries and loans, and asked what that was like to deal with, he said: “It’s not the easiest, but it’s not the hardest either.
“I always tell whoever my winger is that as long as they listen to me on the edge, we’re not going to go far wrong.
“It’s my decision that I make on the outside, so as long as I’m working to the best of my ability, alongside my half-back and back-rower, as long as the winger follows me, it should work well.
“Even though Aidan’s been playing at full back all year, he stepped in to that wing position really well today.
“I can’t knock his efforts, he did really well, and I’m happy with him.”
Gill was happy with the whole team in truth, saying: “We started this week well, knowing that we’d put in an awesome first 40 minutes against Wakefield, completing at 100 per cent.
“It set in stone what we know we can do now. Injuries aside, no matter what squad we name, we know we’re capable of getting the win.
“In the Championship, it’s always difficult, you never know what’ll happen each week, but if we’re confident, we know we can win.”
Gill will be hoping to play alongside the injured Jordan Baldwinson and Sam Hallas again soon, with the pair not just his team-mates, but also his colleagues at MCP Environmental, a Low Moor based company that provides asbestos management and civil engineering solutions.
The centre laughed: “They’re my little trainees, the pair of them.
“I owe a lot to the guys at MCP and I’m really grateful for the opportunity they gave me.
“I started as a trainee there myself and over a year later I’m basically my own boss.
“As long as I’m getting my work done, they’re happy with me.
“Having Jordan and Sam as trainees there is nice and because we’re mates inside and outside of rugby, we can have a bit of banter together while we work.
“But we make sure we knuckle down get our jobs done, then come here to training at Bradford and focus.”
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