BULLS head coach Eamon O’Carroll wants his players to embrace the thrill of the Betfred Championship play-offs, rather than be cowed by the pressure of them.
And he hopes to pass on his own experience of reaching the Super League Grand Final as Catalans Dragons’ assistant coach last year to his Bradford squad.
Bulls host Featherstone tomorrow at Odsal in an eliminator, knowing a semi-final trip to Toulouse awaits if they win.
And O’Carroll told the T&A: “The lads have got to be excited for this, that’s the main thing I’ve told them.
“You work all year to put yourselves in a position and we’ve done that now, so we want to make it count.
“In terms of the game, I think we’ve made some big strides in what we’re trying to achieve in the past couple of weeks, particularly in terms of our completion of sets.”
Asked if it tomorrow was the biggest game of his career as a coach so far, O’Carroll said: “It’s up there, but it’s just about trying to stay calm.
“I was really lucky that I was in a position to get to a Grand Final last year, and I want to make sure I try and use that experience to help the lads.
“We have to get things right on the pitch, but I want them to enjoy the play-off journey, these next couple of games, because there’s no better feeling than being able to walk out at a Grand Final.
“I want my players to experience that, but we need to put ourselves in a position to do so, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to get there.”
And that work includes eradicating the silly errors that led to his side’s 22-21 home defeat to Fev in August, a disappointing follow-up to the game at Post Office Road in April, where Bradford won for the first time since 2015.
He said: “I think we have to take a little bit out of those two games, particularly the one we lost.
“We probably disrespected the game plan a touch towards the back end of the match, and Featherstone are a quality team who’ll take advantage of that if you’re loose.
“We’re going to have to be very good this weekend and very calm, while showing an element of patience.
“These play-off games go to the next level, so we’ve been trying to build up to that over the last month.
“We have to understand we’re not going to get it all our own way, so we’ll have to handle periods of pressure really well.
“The key is staying calm, as normally it’s the team who does that best that comes out on top.”
Bulls and Featherstone are bitter West Yorkshire rivals, adding an extra layer to an already high-stakes play-off eliminator.
But O’Carroll said: “I don’t think that makes it a more dangerous fixture than York or Widnes (the two sides contesting the other play-off eliminator).
“It’s knockout rugby now, so regardless of who we’re playing, we’re going to face the same challenges.
“It probably builds up the anticipation for the spectators that it’s Featherstone, and I totally understand that, but regardless of which of the three sides we were playing, it’d be the same for us as a team.
“Everyone’s viewing this now as us hopefully having three more games to play and we certainly want to do that.
“I’m not ready to finish with this group just yet and I know they’re not ready either.
“We’ve got some lads leaving, so we’ve got to make sure we enjoy these next few weeks together.”
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