Bradford Work on Wigan Warriors Last-Tackle Kicks Before Clash

Bradford Bulls have spent the week on one problem before facing wigan warriors this afternoon: defending last-tackle kicks. Kurt Haggerty says both sides arrive as “wounded beasts,” and Bradford have built their plan around the 30-6 Challenge Cup loss at Wigan a few weeks ago.

Four of Wigan’s five tries in that last-16 tie came from last-tackle kicks. Bradford have used their team review from that match as part of Tuesday’s preview work, with Haggerty saying, “Defending those last-tackle kicks was a topic that came up, so it’s something we’ve identified to work hard on ahead of this weekend’s game.”

Haggerty and the Hull KR review

The Bradford head coach also pointed to last Saturday’s performance against Hull KR, when Bradford were poor in the first 25 minutes and conceded a number of tries off the back of set restarts. “We were poor in the first 25 minutes against Hull KR last Saturday, so ultimately the game was nearly over by half-time,” he said.

That leaves Bradford trying to tighten two separate restart problems at once. The challenge is sharper because Wigan have lost four league games in a row, including home defeats to Huddersfield and Castleford and a 23-6 loss to Warrington last week.

Bradford’s returning players

Bradford are set to welcome back Andy Ackers and Guy Armitage today, while Eribe Doro has not featured since being helped off with a nasty ankle injury in the cup game against Wigan. Haggerty said, “We’ve actually used our team review from that game as part of our preview this week, because we’ve already played Wigan this season.”

He added, “They’re wounded after last week (losing 23-6 to Warrington), but we want a response in this game just as much as they do.” That puts the focus on whether Bradford can turn a video-room fix into a cleaner defensive set when the teams meet this afternoon.