HUDDERSFIELD GIANTS​​ 14 BRADFORD BULLS​​​ 30
JACOB KILBRIDE, Accu Stadium, Friday

WHEN the Rugby League commentators and pundits predicted that things may get worse before they get better for Huddersfield under Jim Lenihan, perhaps even they did not think the Giants could drop to such lows.

An eleventh straight defeat, a seventh under their new head coach and still six points adrift at the bottom of the pile.

That such a run contains losses to all of the three newly-promoted clubs, two of whom have entered 2026 on half central funding, should embarrass the Giants.

While Huddersfield may retain confidence that a strong IMG grading score will retain their spot in Super League, huge improvements are needed on the field and quick or the wooden spoon is headed to the Accu Stadium.

For Bradford, win number six of their top-flight was their first in nine attempts on the road and puts their campaign back on track after a run of four defeats on the spin.

Huddersfield only had themselves to blame for the concession of an eighth-minute opener.

Tui Lolohea inexplicably fell short when attempting to find touch from the Giants’ first penalty and, two six-again calls later, Ryan Sutton cruised through a gaping tryline hole between Tristan Powell and Harry Rushton via Andy Ackers’ dummy-half pass.

Adam Swift almost delivered an immediate response when latching onto Jacob Gagai’s halfway line pass, denied miraculously by an ankle tap from Joe Mellor.

There was no stopping Swift from claiming a ten-minute double to nudge Huddersfield ahead, however.

First, Oliver Russell and the returning Niall Evalds created an overlap from 40 metres out down the left flank for the winger.

Then a tackle in the air on Swift by Dan Russell set the field position for Lolohea to deliver a neat delayed ball into the hands of the ex-St Helens man.

Swift remained in the thick of the action at the other end of the field too, thrown into touch by a gang of Bulls defenders after claiming Chris Atkin’s wide kick, setting the platform for Jayden Nikorima to profit from Mellor’s clever drop-off pass.

Video referee Chris Kendall twice denied the Giants prior to the break, with Sam Hewitt twice at fault, obstructing Atkin amid a Connor Wrench score before failing to ground a Lolohea grubber.

Atkin stretched Bradford’s lead to 14-8 on the stroke of half-time, knocking over a routine penalty goal after being hit late by Matty English after a punt downfield.

The contest appeared to be swinging back into Huddersfield’s favour when Zac Fulton was sin-binned for repetitive Bradford foul play.

And yet it was the Bulls who scored the only points in the battle of twelve against 13, Atkin landing another two-pointer with English again punished for a late tackle, this time on Loghan Lewis.

To make matters worse, Huddersfield lost scrum-half Russell with an agonising-looking hamstring injury.

Atkin grabbed a third penalty goal when Hewitt was pinged for accidental offside and when the hosts botched the restart, Bradford could wrap up the two points.

From 20 metres out, Waqa Blake fended off Gagai, feigned a one-handed back-of-the-hand pass right and finished superbly in the corner.

Taane Milne claimed a late consolation in the right corner off the back of Evalds’ stunning break on halfway via some quick Woolford.

But the final word belonged to Bradford. In the penultimate minute, Nikorima slipped a couple of tackles, grubbered ahead from 20 metres out and Blake won the footrace against Swift.

GAMESTAR: Huddersfield could not handle Jayden Nikorima’s slithering footwork all night.

GAMEBREAKER: When Waqa Blake finished between Jacob Gagai and Adam Swift in the right corner, pulling Bradford 16 points clear, there was no way back for Huddersfield.

HIGHLIGHT REEL: Not the flashiest piece of attacking skill on show, but the Joe Mellor ankle-tap on Adam Swift stopped a near-certain try – a huge first-half moment in this nip-and-tick affair.

ALBERT GOLDTHORPE POINTS
3 pts Jayden Nikorima (Bradford)
2 pts Eribe Doro (Bradford)
1 pt Joe Mellor (Bradford)

MATCHFACTS

GIANTS
1 Niall Evalds
4 Taane Milne
3 Jacob Gagai
34 Connor Wrench
2 Adam Swift
6 Tui Lolohea
32 Oliver Russell
14 Fenton Rogers
9 Zac Woolford
8 Tristan Powell
12 Sam Hewitt
43 Zane Dunford
13 Harry Rushton
Subs (all used)
15 Matty English
17 Joe Greenwood
20 Mathieu Cozza
40 Cole Geyer
18th man (not used)
15 Matty English
Also in 21-man squad
18 Kieran Rush
21 George Flanagan
29 Tanguy Zenon

Tries: Swift (15, 24), Milne (72)
Goals: Russell 0/2, Lolohea 1/1

BULLS
1 Caleb Aekins
23 Connor Wynne
24 Guy Armitage
4 Waqa Blake
5 Ethan Ryan
6 Jayden Nikorima
17 Chris Atkin
8 Ryan Sutton
9 Andy Ackers
15 Eribe Doro
11 Dan Russell
12 Zac Fulton
13 Joe Mellor
Subs (all used)
10 Loghan Lewis
16 Ebon Scurr
33 Jack Ormondroyd
38 Riley Dean
18th man (not used)
22 Luke Hooley
Also in 21-man squad
14 Mitch Souter
19 Will Gardiner
25 Eliot Peposhi

Tries: Sutton (8), Nikorima (28), Blake (65, 79)
Goals: Atkin 7/7
Sin bin: Fulton (39) – repeated team offences

SCORING SEQUENCE: 0-6, 4-6, 8-6, 8-12, 8-14; 8-16, 8-18, 8-24, 14-24, 14-30

Rugby Leaguer & League Express Men of the Match
Giants: Niall Evalds; Bulls: Jayden Nikorima

Penalty count: 7-8
Half-time: 8-14
Referee: Matty Lynn
Attendance: 3,969