Eamon O'Carroll tells Bradford Bulls to focus on Halifax

Four straight victories have effectively locked down third place in the Championship with two rounds left.

That guarantees a home semi-final in the knock-outs – and the chase is still on to overhaul Toulouse in second.

O’Carroll has challenged his team to hit the play-offs with momentum.

And that’s why the only talk this week at Odsal is about overcoming Fax in Sunday’s derby at the Shay.

• Effective if not very pretty - match report from win over Batley

O’Carroll said: “We can’t look at the play-offs. We’ve got to look at Halifax now.

“I think that’s what we’ve done well over the last few weeks.

“The play-offs aren’t too far away. But if we lose sight of the here and now, then we won’t be going into them with any sort of consistency – and it’s important that we are.”

A stodgy 16-14 home triumph over Batley at the weekend all but secured a top-three finish with a four-point gap and huge points advantage over nearest rivals Sheffield.

But O’Carroll knows Bulls must buck up their ideas to maintain their winning form.

He was encouraged by the muted mood among the players after edging past the Bulldogs.

“We’re going to have to be a lot better against Halifax in the derby than what we were on Sunday,” admitted the head coach. “Keep your feet firmly on the ground and stay humble.

Eamon O'Carroll in the changing room after Sunday's win (Image: Tom Pearson)

“It’s all right finishing third but you want to go into the play-offs with some consistency and some rhythm within your performances.

“We certainly know that we can be better. I liked the feeling in the changing room afterwards.

“You can tell they weren’t absolutely buzzing and I think that’s good. It shows that the group is humble.

“Halifax will have watched that game thinking they can pick us apart with some bits. We know we have to be better.”

Kieran Gill had targeted the Fax clash for his return but the Bulls will not take any chances with their top try-scorer.

O’Carroll said: “I’m not sure (if he’ll be ready). He had a bit of an illness last week so we kept him away.

“He’s back running but we’ll see where he’s at. We certainly won’t rush him.”

Forward Eribe Doro will not be considered as he recovers from the back injury he suffered against Sheffield. He is due to see a specialist on Friday.

Jorge Taufau begins another suspension but O’Carroll is happy to have plenty of options to choose from as the campaign reaches crunch point. That was a luxury the Bulls have missed for periods because of the injuries.

Jorge Taufua will miss the Halifax game through suspension (Image: Tom Pearson)

“It’s a great position for us to be in,” he said. “The best teams all have that with competition for places and some selection headaches.

“We’ve been unfortunate this year and probably not had that.

“We’ve been hurrying around on a Friday afternoon before the deadline trying to get people in. That’s probably how drastic and severe it’s been for us this year.

“But touch wood we seem to be through that now. The intensity of our training has gone up and that’s because of the amount of bodies around the building.

“Everyone wants to be part of what’s next.

“We sat down with some players last week and told them they were playing but if this happens again and you’re opposite number is not doing that, then it might change.

“It might be something as simple as not putting kick pressure on which we didn’t have.

“Some lads might look at the stats and some of their involvements and think they’ve had a good game and they have.

"But we value effort and that might be the reason why they miss out.”