Bradford Bulls have ‘hard work to bridge the gap’ to Leeds Rhinos

KURT HAGGERTY admitted there is a big gap to bridge between Bradford Bulls and their rivals Leeds Rhinos.

Bradford suffered a 50-16 defeat on their Magic Weekend return and coach Haggerty admitted: “In the first half we were very poor.

“In the second we had a response but we didn’t have quite enough quality. 

“We know we can score points, we’re a very good offensive team, but every time we turned the ball over we couldn’t defend it. 

“There were a lot of six-agains (conceded) and if I knew the answer I could coach it. 

“It’s amazing to be back on this stage but we need to do more hard work to bridge the gap. 

“We had a number of guys missing or out of position and I had to make them believe. We had some difficult conversations at half-time but the guys threw something at a very good side after it and showed some resilience.

“This game won’t derail us – we’ll still keep scrapping.”