Match thread: Bradford Bulls v Featherstone Rovers, Play-Offs 1st round, Friday 19th September 2025

[The Phantom Horseman]

So, we've made the play-offs, and the reward is a second visit in five days to Odsal. To say we're up against it on Friday is an understatement. Missing all three half backs, plus a couple more that failed HIAs at the weekend, and the guys who played big minutes on a heavy pitch on Sunday will have to back up and play big minutes again with us down to bare bones, whereas Bradford will presumably be able to bring in half a dozen who they rested on Sunday.

I think all we ask is that the team have a dig again as they did on Sunday, where even Bulls fans said we were the better team for the first 70 minutes. It was such a different game to the one at our place earlier in the season.

The head says that the quick turnaround for a team without half backs that can barely muster 17 players will be too much...the heart says this is a team that have battled for each other really well in recent months and will give it another good shot.

I hope we have one more big effort in us but if we do bow out here, roll on next season.

[haskey]

Great sentiments PH

[marklaspalmas]

With Jones and Hardcastle out, and Reynolds, Hampshire, Turner and Tuimavave also gone for the year, that leaves us 18 players and very little wiggle room.

I assume it'll be:

O'Connor

Wynne

Glover

Gale

Barley/Olpherts

Aekins

Addy

Springer

Jubb

Beckett

Day

Webb

Wilde

SUBS: Viniyayawa, Williams, Akauola and Stevens.

 

 

[sentoffagain2]

        Glover has done remarkably well to be on the field last Sunday.Only 2 weeks after damaging his ankle.

[Michael Bates]

1 hour ago, marklaspalmas said:

With Jones and Hardcastle out, and Reynolds, Hampshire, Turner and Tuimavave also gone for the year, that leaves us 18 players and very little wiggle room.

I assume it'll be:

O'Connor

Wynne

Glover

Gale

Barley/Olpherts

Aekins

Addy

Springer

Jubb

Beckett

Day

Webb

Wilde

SUBS: Viniyayawa, Williams, Akauola and Stevens.

 

 

No Jubb I've heard.

[marklaspalmas]

13 minutes ago, Michael Bates said:

No Jubb I've heard.

Wow. That would be every halfback and every dummy-half out. Zero distributors.

[The Phantom Horseman]

26 minutes ago, Michael Bates said:

No Jubb I've heard.

Can you source this, because the only person I've seen suggest that is Mick Gledhill?

[Michael Bates]

23 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Can you source this, because the only person I've seen suggest that is Mick Gledhill?

A friend of mine said he had work commitments. He's usually reliable on team news but would understand any scepticism and will probably treat it with a pinch of salt myself until I see the team sheet.

[Monkeymagic22]

With so many players missing, there’s no chance that we can win. However, it’s been a decent season, after the horrific start. 

[fevnut]

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[Les Tonks Sidestep]

2 hours ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

Can you source this, because the only person I've seen suggest that is Mick Gledhill?

Yeah, Gledhill claims that PC said we'd lost Jubb in his post match interview which must have been a different interview to the one I've seen. Oh, and he said Josh hadn't failed his HIA but had just been timed out, again at odds with what I heard in the interview. 

[The Phantom Horseman]

2 hours ago, Michael Bates said:

A friend of mine said he had work commitments. He's usually reliable on team news but would understand any scepticism and will probably treat it with a pinch of salt myself until I see the team sheet.

I don't know what Jubby does for a living but I'd be amazed if a player missed a Friday night play-off game because of work commitments.

[gazza77]

1 minute ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I don't know what Jubby does for a living but I'd be amazed if a player missed a Friday night play-off game because of work commitments.

Dr Jubb to you and I works for the Environment Agency as a Monitoring Technical Officer (according to his LinkedIn profile). 

[marklaspalmas]

Some things change, some things don't. 

The 2024 season finished with a defeat at Odsal in the playoffs.

This was the Rovers line up. Just 12 months, but I've already forgotten some of the players.

Caleb Aekins, Gareth Gale, Josh Hardcastle, Greg Mininkin, Connor Wynne, Ben Reynolds, Thomas Lacans, Gadwin Springer, Connor Jones, James Lockwood, Brad Day, Jack Bussey, Jimmy Beckett. SUBS: Wellington Albert, Jack Arnold, Dec Patton, Ben Nakubuwai. 18TH: Greg Eden

[FevForev]

28 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Some things change, some things don't. 

The 2024 season finished with a defeat at Odsal in the playoffs.

This was the Rovers line up. Just 12 months, but I've already forgotten some of the players.

Caleb Aekins, Gareth Gale, Josh Hardcastle, Greg Mininkin, Connor Wynne, Ben Reynolds, Thomas Lacans, Gadwin Springer, Connor Jones, James Lockwood, Brad Day, Jack Bussey, Jimmy Beckett. SUBS: Wellington Albert, Jack Arnold, Dec Patton, Ben Nakubuwai. 18TH: Greg Eden

Seems like every season. They’re our stars and then 12 months later forgotten about. That’s (semi) professional sport for you I guess.

[The Phantom Horseman]

27 minutes ago, marklaspalmas said:

Some things change, some things don't. 

The 2024 season finished with a defeat at Odsal in the playoffs.

This was the Rovers line up. Just 12 months, but I've already forgotten some of the players.

Caleb Aekins, Gareth Gale, Josh Hardcastle, Greg Mininkin, Connor Wynne, Ben Reynolds, Thomas Lacans, Gadwin Springer, Connor Jones, James Lockwood, Brad Day, Jack Bussey, Jimmy Beckett. SUBS: Wellington Albert, Jack Arnold, Dec Patton, Ben Nakubuwai. 18TH: Greg Eden

I'll say one thing that I don't think many will disagree with: our in-season signings this year (Hampshire, Wilde and Glover) have been a lot better than last season (Eden, Patton, Kibula etc).  

[Fevrover]

2 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I'll say one thing that I don't think many will disagree with: our in-season signings this year (Hampshire, Wilde and Glover) have been a lot better than last season (Eden, Patton, Kibula etc).  

Definitely . 

[gazza77]

16 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I'll say one thing that I don't think many will disagree with: our in-season signings this year (Hampshire, Wilde and Glover) have been a lot better than last season (Eden, Patton, Kibula etc).  

Just need to get the signings right from the season start next year.

[marklaspalmas]

24 minutes ago, The Phantom Horseman said:

I'll say one thing that I don't think many will disagree with: our in-season signings this year (Hampshire, Wilde and Glover) have been a lot better than last season (Eden, Patton, Kibula etc).  

Yes. They have significantly improved our team. Last year, only Nakabuwai added anything significant 

[Fevrover]

50 minutes ago, gazza77 said:

Just need to get the signings right from the season start next year.

Just need to get more fans through the gates to pay for their wages, desperately need more fans.

[marklaspalmas]

1 hour ago, gazza77 said:

Just need to get the signings right from the season start next year.

I'm not going to disagree with you, but that's almost impossible. At the beginning of the year for example players like Hampshire and Wilde are signed up as Super League players. It's only mid-season when, due to form or fitness, such players become available. There's no way he could have signed Hampshire at the beginning of the season. Ditto Nakabuwai in 24.

Glover was not really a 25 signing. He was signed for 26 then Sheffield let  him go.

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

Interestingly, Josh included in the squad for Friday 

[The Phantom Horseman]

Assuming there are no availability issues with anyone in the squad (which might be a big assumption to make), you'd think Olpherts will come back in for Barley, and then perhaps one of Stevens, Akauola and Hardcastle will be the other player to miss out.

Looking at Bradford's squad on the RFL match centre, my guess is they will go something like Hooley, Okunbor, Blake, Gill, Taufua, Holmes, Keyes, Lawrence, Lilley, Hill, Fulton, Gee, Hallas with Scurr, Souter, Musgrove and Michael on the bench. That's definitely a much stronger team than we faced on Sunday so we'll need a herculean effort.

Edited September 17 by The Phantom Horseman

[marklaspalmas]

1 hour ago, Les Tonks Sidestep said:

Interestingly, Josh included in the squad for Friday 

Is that Clay Webb???

[The Phantom Horseman]