Joined: Oct 26 2005 Posts: 3210 Location: Bradford
Ok. Sunday, Wakefield in the cup. 80 minutes from Wembley. The club seem to be going all out for this on social media, should be a cracking game & crowd. I’m thinking this game should be closer than previous, especially if we have more of our squad to choose from and don’t pick up a succession of injuries during the game.
Joined: Dec 22 2001 Posts: 31945 Location: The Corridor of Uncertainty
We ought to make the game a bit closer than the last time we played them – or at least if our squad plays to their potential and stays fit we ought to. You never know what will happen in a game. Wakefield will obviously be massive favourites. We’re still missing Gaskell, Davies and Smith but hopefully Lawrence is still fit as we need experience out there as the loss against Widnes showed.
Not sure if Wakey have any missing. We need to be at our best and they need to be sub par if we’re going to get anything out of this game. Wakey seem to be maintaining their high standards and so far haven’t been dragged down to championship level. It’ll be interesting to see if they maintain that through the whole season. It’s human nature to only do what you need to win and winning versus championship opposition is a massive difference to winning in SL. I remember we started well in the championship in 2015 but the longer you’re here the harder it is to maintain SL standards.
"If you start listening to the fans it won't be long before you're sitting with them," - Wayne Bennett.
Bullseye wrote:We ought to make the game a bit closer than the last time we played them – or at least if our squad plays to their potential and stays fit we ought to. You never know what will happen in a game. Wakefield will obviously be massive favourites. We’re still missing Gaskell, Davies and Smith but hopefully Lawrence is still fit as we need experience out there as the loss against Widnes showed.
Not sure if Wakey have any missing. We need to be at our best and they need to be sub par if we’re going to get anything out of this game. Wakey seem to be maintaining their high standards and so far haven’t been dragged down to championship level. It’ll be interesting to see if they maintain that through the whole season. It’s human nature to only do what you need to win and winning versus championship opposition is a massive difference to winning in SL. I remember we started well in the championship in 2015 but the longer you’re here the harder it is to maintain SL standards.
Missing Vagana Players available that were not before Rodwell - massive plus for us championship seems to easy for him and could easily transition to SL. Thornley Liam Kay Luke Bain - think it could be too early as only had one reserves outing at the weekend which he scored Jermaine McGilvary - not sure but been told could be back
From what EoC was saying post match sounds like Davies will make it, possibly even Dan Smith and Blackmore, but we will see. Would like to see Connor Carr back, sounds like he’s still with us, been impressed with what I’ve seen from him. Should be a closer game than last time, they won’t be used to our pitch, but a good team can play well on the local park. If we can get a couple of forwards back then we will test them.
We SHOULD be much more competitive in this game. We were down to the bare bones in that squad then lost Taufua in the first minute and Gaskell early in the second half. As Bullseye said, we need to be outstanding, Wakey not quite at it and probably a bit of luck too. We start like we did against Swinton, Wakey will punish us, simple as. This will be a game I don't think we can hope they'll not motivated for!
Hopefully our tight pitch might frustrate them a little. Lino seems to be tearing teams apart, but he's also prone to be frustrated (Sin-binned again against Sheffield at the weekend) so that might be a weakness to exploit.
Presume Davies is back this is how I'd expect us to line up (in brackets is the player there last time so you can see the difference) Think it shows just how weak we were for that first game.
Joined: Feb 13 2008 Posts: 660 Location: Wakey via Leeds
IF we turn up, Wakey will be favourites to win. I have seen most of our games in the Championship and we are a level above all the teams we have played. We are making metres almost every tackle, whilst the opposition struggles to make ground.
Bradford will have to be at their best, and Wakey below par, for you to win.
Joined: Mar 07 2005 Posts: 4029 Location: Brisbane
One of those lose lose games for Wakey - expected to win handsomely.
Getting run close or even losing can't be on the agenda for them. From a Bulls perspective, one of those games you love to play in, with nothing to lose and a genuine chance of pulling something off if the stars align!
Joined: Jan 22 2018 Posts: 2807 Location: Tomorrowland
Bull Mania wrote:We SHOULD be much more competitive in this game. We were down to the bare bones in that squad then lost Taufua in the first minute and Gaskell early in the second half. As Bullseye said, we need to be outstanding, Wakey not quite at it and probably a bit of luck too. We start like we did against Swinton, Wakey will punish us, simple as. This will be a game I don't think we can hope they'll not motivated for!
Hopefully our tight pitch might frustrate them a little. Lino seems to be tearing teams apart, but he's also prone to be frustrated (Sin-binned again against Sheffield at the weekend) so that might be a weakness to exploit.
Presume Davies is back this is how I'd expect us to line up (in brackets is the player there last time so you can see the difference) Think it shows just how weak we were for that first game.
14. Ott (Flanagan) 15. Scurr (Green) 16. Okoro 17. Appo
I'll go for Bulls 10 - Wakey 26
Lino, tearing teams apart?! I think you will find it`s quite the opposite by a mile. He`s been so poor a lot of fans were excited to see him banned for this one so he would be replaced by Lawford. (only to find out it was a wind up!).
With the disgraceful IMG plan turning the sport into a gimmick and with it the championship being a a pointless exrcise. This is the only game we'll play against Wankfield that actually counts for anything so you'd hope our lads will be up for it.
It's a bridge too far though - boosted by the promise of guaranteed promotion the new wankfield owner has been given the guarantee to enable him to splash the cash on a loss making full time super duper squad.
If we run them close it would be a big boost to our confidence with players due to back in the race to finish second.
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