Bulls Eye

27 th June 2002

IN THIS WEEK'S BULLS EYE, COACH BRIAN NOBLE AND MICHAEL WITHERS LOOK AHEAD TO THURSDAY'S SUPER LEAGUE VII ROUND 17 CLASH WHEN THE WIDNES VIKINGS ARE AT VALLEY PARADE LOOKING FOR ANOTHER WIN ON THEIR TRAVELS AND THE Bulls LOOKING TO PUT THE DEFEAT AT ST HELENS BEHIND THEM.

BRIAN NOBLE

THE BULLS NEED TO GET BACK TO WINNING WAYS THIS WEEK.

We do and it will be a tough game for us to achieve it. Widnes have some great competitors and are a very experienced outfit with some well proven campaigners. They have a great record away from home and they have the potential to cause an upset, particularly as they were beaten last week.

A lot has been made of the fact that they capitalise on other side's errors but we are not focusing on that. We need to pay smart and play an expansive game. We have a lot of disappointed people following last week's defeat at St Helens and we will be keen to get back on track with a victory.

It will be good to see Stuart Spruce again and we know how dangerous he can be but Widnes have a great team spirit and we won't be just looking at stopping Sprogger, to do that would play into their hands.

MICHAEL WITHERS

IT IS IMPORTANT TO GET BACK TO WINNING WAYS AFTER THE DEFEAT AT ST HELENS

It was disappointing to lose at St Helens because we had a chance to go four points clear at the top of the table. We have to win every game now, starting with Widnes, to get our lead back at the top. With St Helens having a hard game at Hull this could be the ideal opportunity and we must look to take it.

Widnes are a tough physical side and we have been told we will have to be physical against them. They have only lost once away from home in 12 months and at home they play with a notable physical presence. They work hard for each other and no their limitations. They have some good players as well and there is the added incentive of Stuart Spruce coming back to Bradford.

They feed off other side's mistakes. They complete their sets of six and do the basics very well but we are hurting after the defeat at St Helens. We have had a talk about it this week and I think we will come out fired up for the game.

TEAM NEWS

Brian Noble is likely to be without Brandon Costin who sprung a rib cartilage at St Helens as well as long-term casualty Paul Anderson.

MILESTONES

Jamie Peacock needs 4 points for a total of 100 for the Bulls. He has scored 24 tries.

Leon Pryce needs 4 points for a career total of 200. He has scored 49 tries of which 44 have been for the Bulls.

Tevita Vaikona needs 4 points for a total of 300 for the Bulls. He has scored 74 tries in 117 appearances for the club since joining them from Hull at the start of the 1998 season.

Paul Deacon, who has kicked 93 goals from 114 attempts this season giving him an average success rate of 81.51% for the Bulls, needs 1 point for a total of 500 in his Bulls career and a total of 200 points for the Bulls this season. In his Bulls career he has kicked 197 goals, 9-drop goals and scored 24 tries. He has also kicked 6 goals from 6 attempts for Lancashire giving him an overall percentage of 82.50%.

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

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT STUART DUFFY OR SIMON COLLINSON ON 01274 744250