Eamon O’Carroll insists he wants to build something of a legacy with Bradford Bulls, with the head coach admitting he has jumped around too much for his liking in his career so far.

The 37-year-old ended his playing career with Widnes in 2017, and spent the next year with the Vikings as their performance coach.

He took charge of Newcastle Thunder for just under two years too, with that role sandwiched by two spells as assistant at Catalans Dragons.

But he signed a deal with Bulls in the middle of 2023, and is now tied down here until the end of 2027.

He turned down a Super League offer over the last few weeks in order to commit his future to Bradford and admitted to the T&A after Sunday’s 36-18 win at Whitehaven: “I wanted to stay put.

“I feel like I’ve jumped about a bit in my coaching career even if that’s through no fault of my own.

“I had the most amazing time in France, with two spells over there, and had to return both times for family reasons.

“I want to settle as a coach, and I feel like we can do something special with some hard work and the support I’ve got around me here.

“I want to be a part of that with Bradford.”

That bond between staff and players is clear, with Bulls centre Kieran Gill insisting on playing on for his boss with a damaged shoulder in the win at Whitehaven yesterday, even scoring a try after picking up the injury.

That desire to step up was in evidence before the game, after a last-gasp hamstring issue for Chester Butler forced John Davies into a start and Sam Hallas to come into the matchday 17 moments ahead of kick-off.

O’Carroll reflected: “I think we’re getting used to it, that disruption to our preparation.

“But our plan is simple and everyone knows their role, so I’m confident in the players that they can step up when needed.

“I came out for the warm-up and told JD he was starting and he almost gave me a little smirk to say, ‘here we go again’.

John Davies (right) was parachuted into the starting line up at Whitehaven just minutes before kick-off, after fellow Bulls back rower Chester Butler (left) tweaked his hamstring.John Davies (right) was parachuted into the starting line up at Whitehaven just minutes before kick-off, after fellow Bulls back rower Chester Butler (left) tweaked his hamstring. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

 “Every team goes through it and Whitehaven’s situation is a lot worse than ours currently, but we did have that late reshuffle today and adapted to it well.”

Another thing Bulls coped well with on Sunday was the adversity of a poor first half-hour that left them 12-0 down.

They never really recovered once the rot had set in at York and Batley, and lost both of those games earlier this season, so O’Carroll was pleased his team snapped out of their early malaise in Cumbria.

He said: “That was one of the most pleasing things today, that we were able to turn the game round like we did.

“It’ll be a big thing for us when we review the game, and while we don’t want to have to do that, to have the ability to do it in a match like today was fantastic.”