Leeds Rhinos 18-18 Bradford Bulls

Adrian Purtell scored his first try for the Bradford Bulls after recovering from a heart attack in a dramatic game which saw his side draw with the Leeds Rhinos. 

It was a remarkable achievement, not just for Purtell but for a Bradford side who were all but dead and buried the last time they faced their local rivals. 

Despite this, they did not get off to a very good start and it looked as though the game may have all been over when Kallum Watkins scored for the Rhinos after just 24 seconds. 

Bradford allowed the ball to bounce from the kick off and an excellent chase by the Rhinos saw the ball scooped up by Jamie Jones Buchanan. It was quickly passed to Watkins who threw a dummy to break through the Bulls defence. 

Leeds continued to dominate and seemed unstoppable in the opening 10 minutes.

Nevertheless, a determined Bradford side were not going to let this happen and the tables soon turned after Leeds lost the ball in possession and Purtell hurtled down the field to bring them close to the opposition’s line. 

Bradford were allowed another set of six after Rob Burrow knocked on and Jamie Foster was able to keep the ball alive. It found Elliot Whitehead who slipped out of a tackle and released the ball to Purtell who smashed over the line. 

Now it was Bradford’s turn to dominate and they were in again shortly after with a try from Tom Olbison but Leeds refused to lie down and replied with a try from Mitch Achurch, leaving the score all square at half time. 

Jamie Peacock opened the scoring for the Rhinos in the second half, surprisingly the only time he has scored a try against Bradford. 

Tempers began to flare as both sides battled hard to gain control and the shine was taken off Peacock’s try after Kevin Sinfield’s potentially match winning drop goal was wiped off after Peacock was penalised for interference. 

Bradford applied an unbelievable amount of pressure to a Rhino’s defence that seemed unbreakable but it was finally broken when the referee had enough of Peacock’s ill-discipline and he was sin binned for dissent.

Taking advantage of the extra man, Bradford’s Adam Sidlow finally managed to break the line and went over for a try in the 79^th minute, drawing the game in front of an ecstatic crowd at Headingley.

 

 

 

Is the Salford takeover still good for rugby league?

One of the most controversial stories to come out of Super League this weekend was the sacking of Salford coach Phil Veivers. The team have not won a game since July and the word from the club was that they needed a change to progress forward.

The results do speak for themselves and there is clearly something wrong inside the camp. But was sacking a good coach who has stuck by the club through some extremely difficult times recently, really the right answer?

When Marwan Koukash took over at the club recently, a lot of positives were raised about such a rich man coming into rugby league and the benefits this could be bring but after the above decision was made, has the shine been taken off this particular take over and it’s worth to rugby league?

The rumour is that Salford wants Australian coach Tim Sheens to replace Veivers. This raises the first issue about trying to keep English players and coaches in the game. Shouldn’t he be looking at bringing in an English coach? Will Sheens want to bring with him or sign up a lot of overseas players? Rugby league desperately needs to develop home grown players to compete internationally so is this move causing the English game to take a step back?

On the other hand, Sheens is a good coach and that is what Salford needs. If fortunes can change on the field then they will also improve off the field. With worries about crowd figures amongst other things, this is vitally important and would be a boost to Super League.

However, you could argue that instead of replacing the coach, if they spent the money on possibly buying better players and improving training facilities for example, could that same effect still not have been achieved under Phil Veivers?

There was also the revelation recently that Koukash wanted to sign Sam Tomkins, a seemingly insane request, not least because of the salary cap. However, my guess is that this was just a publicity stunt, a way of grabbing people’s attention and that is exactly the effect it had. Is that not what we need in this sport, a character that is making headlines and drawing people to our game?

All in all, what is important here is that Koukash invests long-term in Salford. The last thing we want is for their troubles to be repeated and more bad press for rugby league. Yes, the sacking of Veivers was harsh but they know what they are doing and if they can make the changes and see results, then that is not just good for Salford but for rugby league as a whole.