Round 2
Bradford Bulls 6 l. St Helens 38

2010 engage English Super League Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Wellens puts Saints back on track
Mon February 15, 2010
Source: www.superleague.co.uk

Paul Wellens scored four tries as St Helens proved that there is life after Sean Long as they produced a devastating display to beat early season strugglers Bradford Bulls 38-6.

Eyebrows were raised when the Saints allowed Long to join Hull FC in the winter, and those concerns seemed to be well placed as he condemned his former employers to a humiliating 32-12 opening-night defeat last weekend.

But Mick Potter's men responded in the champion style that has become synonymous with them through the summer era, although their cause was helped by an often poor display from the hosts who failed to justify their heavy winter investment for a second week running.

Steve McNamara's side were beaten by Huddersfield Giants in their opening match and were horribly off the pace here, missing numerous tackles and failing to apply any serious pressure to the Saints defence as the visitors cut loose.

Having made a number of marquee signings during the off-season, the pressure will now firmly be on McNamara, whose men had little answer to the movement of St Helens, for whom Wellens excelled and Kyle Eastmond, Long's replacement, ended with a personal haul of 18 points.

Despite missing Keiron Cunningham on what would have been his 500th career appearance because of a family bereavement, the Saints were quick out of the blocks and could have scored two early tries were it not for handling errors from Jonny Lomax and Francis Meli.

It did not take too long for them to hit the front though, with Jon Wilkin running under the posts with 12 minutes gone after Wellens had broken through and held up a pass for him.

Eastmond slotted the conversion and a penalty three minutes later, before Wellens got the first of his four tries when he ran on the inside of Leon Pryce and collected the stand-off's superb offload to score with ease.

Things got even worse for the Bulls before half-time, when a needless handling error from the otherwise lively hooker Heath L'Estrange gifted St Helens possession 20 metres out, allowing Pryce and Wellens to combine in a similarly devastating manner.

Bradford probed hard for an opening after the restart but their bubble burst seven minutes in when Matt Orford's pass was intercepted one-handed by Eastmond who raced 90 metres to score, before adding the conversion.

There was an obvious improvement in Bradford's attack, though, but when they did forge a route to the line Wayne Godwin shelled Nick Scruton's offload under the posts and the four points went begging.

Saints did outstandingly well to survive six-successive sets camped in the own half and then sapped any resistance Bradford may have had left with a stunning length-of-the-field move that led to Wellens bringing up his hat-trick.

Wilkin's break initially set James Roby clear and, after the ball was put through the hands of Lomax, Meli, Scott Moore and Tony Puletua, Wellens bounced over the line to score.

The full-back then brought about the second four-try haul of his career with nine minutes remaining, somersaulting over the line to rub salt in Bradford's wounds, although Orford did add a consolation try and goal in the final minute.


Bulls Eye: Bradford v St Helens
Fri February 12, 2010
Source: www.bradfordbulls.co.uk

In this week's Bulls Eye Bradford Coach Steve McNamara and fullback Dave Halley look ahead of Sunday's round 2 engage Super League XV clash against St Helens at the Grattan Stadium.

STEVE McNAMARA
WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS HAVING HAD TIME TO WATCH THE GIANTS GAME AGAIN?
Very encouraging. We are desperately disappointed we didn't get the two points and we are disappointed in a couple of key areas where we conceded some points in a little flurry, where we made some errors. With the possession and field position we had in the second half and the numerical advantage we had we are disappointed we did not come up with some plays to go on and clinch that game. I thought there was two very good sides playing against each other and that will become plain to see as the season unfolds. The Giants were just a little bit better in some areas than we were but in a lot of areas we were very encouraged by what we did.

HOW DIFFICULT IS IT NOT TO GET CARRIED AWAY, EITHER ON A HIGH OR A LOW, AT THIS STAGE OF THE SEASON?
It could have easily have been the worst thing - for the season ahead - to have gone on and won that game, who knows, simply because we look for improvement. We are a new side, there's no two ways about that. We have practiced the best we can and we have had some good pre season trials to get us ready but we played against a very good side. I think if we had come up against a lot of other sides we might well have come away with the money but we are not getting too carried away because we lost, just as we wouldn't have if we had won. But we have another opportunity again this week against what I will say is a very good side. There will be two good sides playing each other again this week and we get an opportunity to put some of our wrongs right this week.

YOU MUST HAVE WATCHED THE HULL V SAINTS GAME ON VIDEO, WHAT YOU COULD SEE OF IT!
It was certainly a strange old game and we have had a look at it; very difficult!! But what I will say from that game is that it was obvious to see that Saints started that game very strong and they were only a couple of plays away from pushing on and getting in front and who knows, maybe going on and winning that game. They didn't quite get those tries; they picked up a couple of injuries and before you know it the games gone the other way. Believe me, Saints are a good side, as are Hull and it shows it's going to be a tough competition. We did pick some bits up from that game but as you can imagine, not too many!

FROM WHAT YOU HAVE SEEN OF SAINTS, ARE THEY DOING ANYTHING DIFFERENT THIS YEAR?
Well they have let a couple of key players go and brought a couple in and in Kyle Eastmond they have obviously got a real gem in their half backs. Saints have some real strength to their game; they have three international Hookers in Keiron, Scott Moore and James Roby, so they have some real strength and I am sure they'll win more games than they lose this year.

I think Kyle will handle things well. He is a very mature person and a good player and he has some great support mechanisms around him, in terms of the senior players and I am sure he will be good for them but hopefully we can keep him at bay this week and if we do that we will go a long way towards winning this game. Sean Long didn't play as many games for Saints last year as he has done in the past so they got used to playing without him and Kyle got his opportunity and Leon Pryce is obviously a very influential player and when he gets the ball in his hands he will cause trouble for any side. Traditionally they have been very fast around the ruck area and in James Graham, Puletua and Fa'asavalu they have some good players in their pack.

IT'S THE FIRST HOME GAME OF THE SEASON. DO YOU WANT TO PUT A SHOW ON FOR THE SUPPORTERS?
Well we are really looking forward to it. We have not been able to play a home trial game and our first league game was away so we are really looking forward to it and hopefully there will be a big crowd and we play well and perform well and in the minds of the players that will happen. We are looking forward to the comforts that being at home brings and making the Grattan Stadium a very tough place for opposition sides to come to.

WHAT'S THE NEWS ON THE SQUAD?
Well we came through the game injury free, which is a big bonus for us and we have got to tweak some areas where we let ourselves down both technically and tactically and we need to make sure we have the right personnel to execute the changes we will make. So in Elliott Whitehead, Jason Crookes and Tom Olbison, we have some boys who may come into the fray.

DAVE HALLEY
WE WILL BE LOOKING TO BOUNCE BACK THIS WEEK.
There is a high expectancy amongst the squad this season so it is massive for us to get a good start this week against Saints. We have reflected on the Huddersfield game; pushed past it and we are really looking forward to this one and looking to make the Grattan Stadium a fortress again.

We have three new players in key positions, Matt, Heath and Brett and Full Back is becoming an ever more important position these days. Our combinations weren't quite right against Huddersfield and we need to get them right this week and we have been working hard on the training field to do that. We had some good areas last week - we kept them down to just 1000 metres with the ball, whilst we made over 1300 - and we were the better side in a lot of them. We'll look this week to get even better.

SQUAD
Steve McNamara will name his 19 man squad on Friday.

MILESTONES
ANDY LYNCH, who will make his 150th appearance for the Bulls today, requires 8 points for a career total of 200. He has scored 48 tries in his career, 15 for Castleford, 2 for England 'A' and 31 for Bradford Bulls in 299 appearances.

MICHAEL WORRINCY requires 8 points for career total of 100. He has scored13 tries for Harlequins (London Broncos) and 10 for Bradford Bulls in 62 appearances.

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