BRADFORD BULLS look well-placed to do some damage in the Championship in the 2024 season.
After a third-placed finish in 2023 and a semi-final play-off, the Odsal outfit are keen to go one better next season.
And with new head coach Eamon O’Carroll poised and ready to make the step up from assistant coach at the Catalans Dragons, the Bulls look in a very good place.
Now O’Carroll has revealed what convinced him to take the job at Bradford.
“It’s been really good, I am excited about being here. I feel ready, it’s a great club and I’ve got a lot of support so I’m very happy,” O’Carroll told League Express.
“It’s a wonderful opportunity, I feel the stage I was at as an assistant coach that this is a great step up for me. Me and my family were coming home from France anyway so that was certainly one factor.
“But, certainly from the outside looking in, Bradford is a club with huge potential so that’s one thing that really attracted me to it.
“Not only that but speaking to Jason (Hirst, CEO), Nobby (Brian Noble, rugby consultant) and Nigel (Wood, chairman), the things they are willing to put in place here and the steps they have made already, I think the club is in a great spot now to go into a new phase now and build.”
Though Super League is eventually the aim for O’Carroll, he knows that there will be many twists and turns in the near and long-term future.
“I hope it will include Super League but what I won’t say is that we will go straight into Super League because there is a lot of work to do without a doubt, but that’s the one thing I am happy about. We know there are certain things we need to do to get there.
“My job, first and foremost, is assembling a team and a squad that can be competitive week in, week out in the competition we are in.”
On a sad note, the news that Bradford star Tom Holmes has been diagnosed with a rare form of cancer shocked the rugby league fraternity.
Now O’Carroll has hailed both Holmes and his Bradford players for their reaction as the Bulls boss pledges his support to Tom and his family.
“One thing I will say is that Tom is a hugely influential part of the group, not just playing but what he does around the place,” O’Carroll told League Express.
“You can see how close he is with everyone and one of the best things I have seen is how the group took the news so to speak but also supported him and his family. I wouldn’t have expected anything else to be fair.
“It’s really disappointing and said, Tom is a great lad and still comes in with a smile on his face and has a positive impact on the group when he can get to training.
“He is really liked by everyone, he’s certainly got our support as has his family.”
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