BRADFORD BULLS are set to welcome back as many as four players for their Super League clash against Wigan Warriors this Saturday.
The club have been struggling under the weight of injuries in recent months, with halfback Jayden Nikorima their tenth player to be ruled out for the remainder of the season with a quad injury.
But there appears to be some light at the end of the tunnel, with head coach Kurt Haggerty saying: “We will have Waqa Blake, Jayden Okunbor, Joe Keyes and potentially Dan Russell back.”
Keyes has been out the longest of the four by far, having not played since February due to a back problem.
A veteran of six seasons with the club over two spells, the pivot is leaving Odsal again at the end of this campaign but appears set to go out on his own terms.
Russell, who has missed the past three weeks with an eye issue, is also departing at the end of this year.
Okunbor has only played four times all year thanks to two long injury spells, first with his knee and most recently his back.
Both he and Blake (knee) were feared to have suffered season-ending injuries but are set to make welcome returns for the final five weeks.
Haggerty joked: “We’re not used to having so many people! It’s thrown us a bit. We have been able to do a lot more training.”
The coach admitted that Bradford are looking at things that could be done differently to prevent so many injuries in 2027.
He added: “You’ve got a squad that’s gone from part-time to full-time, and then you add (former) Salford players that barely played last year.
“We have had a big transition at the club and there’s nothing hard and fast with the answers.
“There will be a lot more we can control going into next year.”