Bull's Eye

In this week's Bulls Eye, Brian Noble and Jamie Peacock look at Sunday's Round 10 game at Odsal when the Tigers come to face the Bulls still looking for their first victory of the season.

BRIAN NOBLE

THIS LOOKS AN EASY GAME ON PAPER BUT IF YOU TAKE THEM TOO LIGHTLY THEY ARE QUITE CAPABLE OF GETTING THAT ELUSIVE FIRST WIN.

They are going to knock somebody off soon because they have got quality in their side. They played really well against Wigan and they decided to take the shackles off themselves and they are throwing the ball around. They have some very dangerous off loaders and they support very well. They have started to get some of their injured players back and, as we know, you need as many troops out there as you can get and when they are at strength they are a formidable outfit. We need to know that and I am sure the players have bought into that philosophy. They have embarrassed us here a few times over the past few years and we will have to be at our best to make sure we are not their first notch on their gun this season.

We are struggling a bit with injuries and we have doubts about several people. Shontayne Hape, who has a slight fracture to his arm, is definitely out and Stu Reardon and Paul Deacon are struggling. I won?t be able to pick the side until after practice on Sunday but the good news is that Lesley Vainikolo and Aaron Smith are both available for selection.

I was delighted with the way we played and the two points at London. The conditions meant we were unable to play the way we wanted but there was a massive improvement in some areas of our game, which may not be obvious to everyone and I will be looking for the same against the Tigers

JAMIE PEACOCK

CASTLEFORD WILL BE LOOKING FOR THE TWO POINTS THIS WEEK.

It is a really big game for them this week and as long as they keep on losing the next game becomes more important. They badly need a win to climb away from the relegation area of the table and the longer they leave it the harder it will become for them. We know what kind of threat Castleford pose. I can?t understand why they have struggled. I thought they made the best signings of the close season, with six or seven really good buys but it has just not been happening for them.

We have picked up our game over the last couple of matches but to be honest I never thought we were very far off the pace. We just need to keep improving and plugging away week to week. It is important we keep wining but our aim is to be playing at the top of our game in the final six to eight weeks of the season. It is no good playing our best football now. Yes we need to keep on winning but we don?t want to peak too early. People need to understand that.

TEAM NEWS

Brian Noble has added fit again Lesley Vainikolo and Aaron Smith to the squad at London but Shontayne Hape drops out through injury. The squad is: Withers, Reardon, Vainikolo, Andy Smith, Bridge, Aaron Smith, Moore, Paul, Vagana, Anderson, Fielden, Peacock, Parker, Radford, Langley, L Pryce, Deacon, Johnson, K Pryce, Swann

MILESTONES

Paul Deacon needs one point for a total of 1100 for the Bulls. He has scored 42 tries, 459 goals and 13 drop goals

Paul Johnson needs two points for a career total of 250. He has scored 62 tries.

BULLS EYE IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE MEDIA DEPARTMENT OF BRADFORD BULLS RUGBY CLUB.

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