BRADFORD BULLS are a dormant giant at present.
Once a Super League force to be reckoned, the Bulls have now sat outside the top flight for a decade, and, following the departure of Mark Dunning as head coach, will need to rebuild once more for 2024.
As a result, assistant to Dunning, Lee Greenwood, and Bradford’s rugby consultant Brian Noble have steered the ship and will do so for the remainder of the 2023 Championship season.
But, for 2024 and beyond, current Catalans Dragons assistant coach Eamon O’Carroll will take charge – something which chief executive Jason Hirst is excited to see.
Alongside O’Carroll, Greenwood is expected to revert back to his number two role and Noble his consultancy role.
“The board, myself, Eamon O’Carroll all want and expect Brian and Lee to be with us next year,” Hirst told West Yorkshire Radio Rugby League.
“Brian reverting to his football consultancy role and Lee reverting to his assistant coach role but it will be very much a three-pronged management team in terms of coaching with Eamon fronting it up, supported by Brian and Lee.
“We are excited by that combination, we think it makes it stronger. Lee and Brian have done a great job but both have gone on record to say they are doing it in the short-term.
“It’s a full-time role and Lee has got a good job outside of rugby league and Brian has commitments with BBC work etc. It’s a good fit for Brian and Lee and a great fit for Eamon, fingers crossed everyone is happy.”
In terms of retention going forward, the likes of Jayden Myers, Billy Jowitt and Ebon Scurr have all signed new deals in recent weeks, but Hirst is determined to keep away from an issue which has hampered the club in previous years.
“A lot of players are out of contract at the same time and I don’t think that’s the model moving forward and I’m trying to address that,” Hirst continued.
“It takes up a lot of my time having to re-negotiate with a lot of players at once but more importantly, it can potentially mean a higher turnover of players each year and that isn’t what you ideally want to see.
“The ideal for me is you are looking to bring in three or four players each off-season to strengthen what you have got rather than trying to start from scratch again.”
Of course, with the provisional IMG gradings given by the marketing giants in September, the Bulls and every other professional rugby league side will be able to see in which criteria they need to improve and where they are strong.
For Hirst, he has issued a rallying cry to supporters to back the club both at Odsal and on social media.
“It’s a pivotal time for rugby league and we are doing all we can to score as highly as possible. We will work diligently on that.
“The provisional gradings will give us some clarity because at the moment in time there is unknown. Where we finish this season makes a difference, so the higher we climb up the table, the more points we will get with IMG’s grading. Last year we finished ninth and that will hurt us.
“What I’d kindly ask our fans and lapsed fans is to get down to Odsal because the average attendance is another grading. Interact with us on social media be it Twitter or Facebook because that will help us get a higher score.
“Regardless of IMG, we are in a decent position in the league table. We have a real chance of finishing in the top four in the play-offs.”
