Round 1
Bradford Bulls 18 d. Huddersfield Giants 14

2007 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: United Kingdom > National > First Grade Competition: engage English Super League

Solomona stars as Bulls overcome Giant effort
Mon February 12, 2007
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

Bulls new signing David Solomona orchestrated a tense opening engage Super League win for the Bradford Bulls over the Huddersfield Giants.

Bradford coach Steve McNamara sang the praises of Solomona after Bradfords opening Super League XII win.

The 29-year-old back row forward, a £90,000 close-season capture from Wakefield demonstrated wonderful creative skills even having played out of position at stand-off following Iestyn Harris' late withdrawal with flu, earning the man of the match award in his Bulls debute.

Solomona's deft kick set up fellow Kiwi Shontayne Hape for Bradford's first try, while he forced his way over for the second just before the break and generally caused all sorts of problems for the visitors with his array of ball-handling skills.

"He found out late last night that he was playing stand-off - and he's probably never played there in his life before - but he produced two pieces of magic," said McNamara.

"He's a very, very special player and I can see him improving a lot more as the season goes on.

"It was always going to be tough on a shocker of a pitch," added McNamara. "At the end both sides were out on their feet.

"I'm tremendously proud of the effort of my players. We had to grind out a win in an arm wrestle and it stands us in good stead for the rest of the season."

Solomona's fellow newcomer Glenn Morrison also scored his first try for the Bulls to deny a brave Huddersfield outfit their first Super League win over Bradford.

The Giants, returning to the scene of last July's Powergen Challenge Cup semi-final triumph over Leeds Rhinos, led 14-12 until Morrison grabbed the all-important score 10 minutes from the end of a match littered with penalties.

Huddersfield, who pushed St Helens in their opening fixture, caused plenty of problems for the Bulls through their giant-sized forwards.

They took a 10th-minute lead when centre Jamahl Lolesi won the race to Chris Thorman's kick to register his first try in engage Super League but Bradford hit back with a copybook score with Shontayne Hape following up on Paul Deacon's grubber.

The score remained 6-6 until four minutes before the break when Solomona tore through the Giants defence for a solo effort, to which Deacon added his second conversion.

Thorman's penalty on the stroke of half-time cut Bradford's lead to four points with the Giants regaining the advantage six minutes into the second half when second rower Stuart Jones won the race to Brad Drew's kick to the posts. Bradford were down to 12 men at the time with debutant full-back Michael Platt in the sin-bin for an obstruction on former Bradford favourite Robbie Paul, an act that began to look costly.

The game was then held up for five minutes to enabled Bradford's promising forward Sam Burgess to receive treatment before being carried off on a stretcher. Huddersfield were good value for their lead but a run of seven successive penalties enabled Bradford to switch the momentum and their pressure finally told when Morrison went through a gap in the visitors defence.

Huddersfield then pressured Bradfords line for the final minutes but the Bulls defensive line held firm against a spirted Giants side.

Huddersfield are now without a win from two matches after going down 18-10 to champions St Helens in their opening fixture but coach Jon Sharp was again delighted with his team's efforts.

"I thought we were excellent, good enough to get something out of the game and I'm really disappointed for my boys," he said.

"I thought we were good against Saints and we kicked on again against a tremendous side.

"I'm really encouraged. The boys are positive and proud of their performance, although they're a bit frustrated that they didn't get anything out of the game."

Report source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk


Bulls Eye: Bradford v Huddersfield
Fri February 9, 2007
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In the opening edition of Bulls Eye, Bradford coach Steve McNamara looks ahead to Sunday's Round 1 engage Super League clash as the Bulls take on the Gaints in Super League XII.

STEVE McNAMARA
ALL THE PRE SEASON IS OVER, THE TALKING IS DONE AND THE FIRST GAME IS UPON US. LOOKING FORWARD TO IT?
We are really looking forward to it. All the players, the staff and the fans are ready for it now. It has been a while since we played a competitive fixture and we are looking forward to getting back out on the pitch. I think all the Coaches will be thinking the same; that is to keep injuries to a minimum and if we can do that we will have as much chance as anyone in what undoubtedly is going to be the closest season yet.

I am really happy with the squad I have assembled and the build up for the pre season. The new players have all been great and they have all brought a lot to the table both in training and as individuals. They have added a lot to what we already had. As far as the pre season games went, we had some things to contend with; injuries and such and we weren't able to play our full side against Hull KR and Wakefield, so we made a conscious decision not to push too hard in those games and work on some individual things and we came together for the Keighley game. In terms of where we are at we are exactly where we wanted to be at this stage.

BULLS HAVE HAD A REPUTATION AS SLOW STARTERS. IS THAT SOMETHING YOU WILL BE LOOKING TO PUT RIGHT THIS TIME?
It's very important to finish strong because that is the business end of the season and that's important but I think that by being strong at the beginning and being more consistent gives you the best possible opportunity to i) finish as high as you can, which gives you the best opportunity to progress and ii) gives you a confidence boost. When you start strong it gives everyone a boost and that's important.

IT'S HUDDERSFIELD THIS WEEK FOR STARTERS. HAVE YOU BEEN ABLE TO SEE MUCH OF THEM?
Yes we have seen some videos of their pre season games and we had the opportunity to watch them against Saints last week. I thought they were very tough and tenacious in that game and proved difficult for Saints to beat and I am sure they will be on Sunday. They have several outstanding players, Drew for instance has always been a threat but they have collectively put on some size as a team. They have made a conscious effort to do that and they will be a challenge for any side in the competition.

SQUAD
Steve McNamara has named the following 20-man squad for the game, which lacks Andy Lynch, still recovering from his broken leg and Chris McKenna, who has a wrist injury and has had an operation.

The Squad is: I Harris, Newton, Platt, McAvoy, Evans, Feather, St Hilaire, Vagana, Hape, Henderson, Solomona, James, Deacon, Burgess, B Harris, Vainikolo, Morrison, Cook, Kopczak, Langley.

MILESTONES
Lesley Vainikolo has scored 130 tries in 132 games.

Iestyn Harris needs 10 points for a total of 200 for the Bulls. He has scored 29 tries, 36 goals and 2 Drop Goals.

Shontayne Hape needs 8 points for a total of 300 in the British game. He has scored 73 tries.

News sent by: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

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