BEING a rugby league player means being in the public eye both on and off the field.
That means a whole lot of pressure and for one particular Championship club, that has been too much at times.
Bradford Bulls were predicted to be right in the mix for Super League promotion at the beginning of the 2023 season, but the West Yorkshire side has since slipped to seventh in the table – outside of the play-offs.
That inconsistency led to head coach Mark Dunning losing his job with assistant Lee Greenwood taking over on an interim basis.
So why aren’t Bradford performing as well as expected in 2023? Here’s what star man Jordan Lilley had to say.
“I just think it’s about consistency, we have been inconsistent as a team,” Lilley told League Express.
“We have knocked off some of the top teams like Toulouse, Widnes and Sheffield and then we’ve crumbled against the lower end teams in the league.
“It’s something we’ve been looking at in terms of solutions because when we go behind, we don’t fall behind by six points, we fall into a massive hole. It is something we are working hard each week to fix.
“We can’t afford to do that because against the top end teams they punish you. I think whenever you get beat in a big manner – and some of the performances we’ve put in have been embarrassing – it always knocks your confidence.”
Lilley also believes that injuries and the plethora of incomings haven’t exactly helped in terms of the team being settled.
“You get the week to fix it up and we have been able to fix it up, then you grow in confidence. We have been hit and miss and it hasn’t helped that we have had injuries and had reshuffles. We have had a few loan signings come in as well which probably hasn’t helped the cohesion in the team.
“On paper we have a really good squad and you see that in training. When we get it right, it looks really good, its now about putting the practice into games.”
The disgruntlement amongst Bradford supporters has been fomenting in recent months, but Lilley has a passionate message for those fans.
“The message to the Bradford fans is to stick with us. If you look at the league table in the current climate, we are two points behind joint third and four behind joint second so we are not that far off even though results haven’t gone our way and performances haven’t been cracking. We’re not a million miles off where we need to be.
“I think if we can come together and work hard as a team and do the basics, we can start climbing the ladder.
“I want the fans to stay with us, we are working hard and we want you there every step of the way. I’m pretty confident it will come together and this will be a distant memory.
