BRADFORD BULLS are putting the brakes on Mitch Souter as coach Brian Noble tries to keep up the pace with Toulouse at the top end of the table.
The Australian hooker scored a try for the fourth successive league game as the Bartercard Odsal side won 30-22 at Doncaster on Sunday.
It was a seventh of the season and a 13th in a Bradford shirt since the 24-year-old switched from Canberra Raiders, where he had been playing in the New South Wales Cup team, ahead of last season.
Souter – nicknamed ‘The Scooter’ – has become a firm favourite with the Bulls faithful, who are hoping for Grand Final glory and a return to Super League under club grading, an objective of which chief executive Jason Hirst had made no secret.
His dynamic attacking play has impressed – supporters savoured his sweet strike in the previous week’s 36-20 home win against Widnes, which came from following up his own chip.
“We’ve been trying to slow Mitch down a little bit and he’s responding,” pointed out Noble.
“It was a clever kick and by chasing it as hard as he did, he got a result.”
Souter entered the Canberra system at 16 and made his NSW Cup debut in 2022, going on to play 16 times for the second string, with two tries.
He originally joined Bradford on a one-year deal, but after playing in all but three games in 2024, when the Bulls reached the semi-finals of both the 1895 Cup and the play-offs, he agreed an extension, with the hope of benefitting from former Odsal and Great Britain ace Noble’s expertise in his position.
“I came over to play in the top flight, and I don’t really want to leave England until I’ve done that,” he said.