Bradford Bulls boss expects "sleepless night" over selection

He made four changes for Sunday’s 50-0 romp at home to Swinton Lions, bringing in centre Romain Franco, prop Dan Smith and interchanges Tyran Ott and Nathan Mason in place of Jayden Okunbor, Lee Gaskell, Keven Appo and Michael Lawrence, and it is fair to say that all of the four incoming put their hands up to play this weekend.

O’Carroll will announce his preliminary 21-man squad for the eliminator clash against Fev tomorrow, and there are likely to be a couple of big names who miss out on selection.

Explaining the changes he made for the Swinton game, O’Carroll said: “I left out Gasky because he has had a really disrupted year.

“He has played two 80-minute games - one on a 4G and one on a real bog - so we have to be really smart with him.

“The other three have had some on-going issues when they have been playing, so we saw it as an opportunity to make a few changes.

“I have a few headaches, and not just in the spine, but I am really happy being in that position, and I said that to Nobby (Brian Noble) when we were walking down from the box on Sunday.

“I challenged the group and the last thing I said to the lads coming in that this was an opportunity and I wanted to see them take it.

“They have done that, so I will have a sleepless night thinking about the team for Featherstone and making the right decisions.

“Zac (Fulton) got a bit of a bang and we took him off as a precaution but everybody came through okay.”

Jarrod Sammut is likely to be in direct competition with Lee Gaskell for a spot in the halves alongside Jordan Lilley on Sunday. (Image: Tom Pearson)

Two areas of improvement that the Bulls have shown recently have been in their decision making with the ball and their discipline.

O’Carroll said: “We have had some matches where we have been the dominant team and ended up on the wrong side of the penalty count.

“The boys have worked extremely hard on their discipline, which got brought up earlier in the season.

“What we are seeing now is that we are getting some good field position and complementing that with good yardage defence, meaning we are getting good ball sets a bit earlier in the game.

“We were pulling the trigger a bit when we didn’t need to, which has been a big focus, but the boys are working hard.”

Reflecting on the regular season and what can make a difference when it comes to play-off rugby, O’Carroll said: “We finished highest of all the part-time teams.

This home win for Bulls over York in July caught the eye, as the two highest-finishing part-time sides played out a thriller at Odsal. (Image: Tom Pearson)

“We came third and are excited about being in the play-offs, but we want to make that count now.

“The hard work started a long time ago and we have been building.

“There are clearly some areas that we want to improve, and we will looking at that, but we value our kick-chase and what we do off the ball.

“They are the things that really matter and that is what it takes in play-off matches.

“There is not too much technical, and of course you have to get that right, but it is all about effort and intent, and you cannot afford to miss that.”