BRADFORD BULLS coach Brian Noble is confident new arrival Guy Armitage will be available should his side seal a home Challenge Cup third-round clash with Castleford.
The Bulls host Championship rivals Doncaster in the second round on Sunday in the first competitive match of club legend Noble’s second spell at the helm.
In his silverware-laden first stint, from November 2000 to April 2006, he led Bradford to two Challenge Cup finals, lifting the trophy in 2003, when Leeds were beaten 22-20 at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium.
Now the focus is on defeating Doncaster, when the Bulls will be without powerful outside back Armitage as he recovers from a calf injury.
The 33-year-old ex-rugby union player (he represented England at Under-20 level) scored 41 tries in 56 games for Toulouse between 2021 and 2024, after previously playing for London Broncos, Bradford’s first league opponents at home on Sunday, February 16.
He is one of ten new signings since the Bulls finished third in the table and reached the play-off semi-finals under Eamon O’Carroll last season.
A clash with Castleford would take place on the weekend of February 8/9.