Weekly Bulls Eye

IN THIS WEEK?S EDITION OF BULLS EYE, COACH BRIAN NOBLE AND BRIAN McDERMOTT LOOK FORWARD TO FRIDAY?S BATTLE OF THE TOP TWO IN THIS SUPER LEAGUE VII ROUND 23 CLASH AT THE BRADFORD & BINGLEY STADIUM BETWEEN THE BULLS AND IAN MILLWARD?S ST HELENS.

BRIAN NOBLE

THIS WILL BE ONE OF THE TOUGHEST GAMES OF THE SEASON.

Yes, if not the toughest! They will have a full team and all the noises coming out of their camp suggest they are looking forward to coming to Valley Parade and trying to beat us there. It will be a fantastic day at the Super League Office!

IAN MILLWARD HAS SAID THIS IS A MUST WIN GAME FOR ST HELENS IF THEY ARE TO HAVE A CHANCE OF FINISHING TOP OF THE TABLE. DO YOU AGREE WITH THAT VIEW?

The reality is there are just two points at stake and there are 6 very difficult games left to play. I think they will see it as a barometer of where they will finish because if we win we will be 4 points clear of them. That will be in their mind and they will want to knock us over.

It is one of Ian Millward?s ambitions to come and win at Valley Parade and it is an ambition of ours to keep that record going. They have made noises about how that will put pressure on us but there will be an element of respect from them as well. They will respect the fact that we have that record. Ian is saying it is a tough place to come and we are not embarrassed about that we are very proud of the fact we are tough to beat at home and we won?t be any less tough tomorrow night. We have trained very well this week and the players seem fresh and they are all looking forward to it.

If you look at the two squads there is quality all across the field. It deserves a very big crowd, as there will be all that is good about our game on show.

BRIAN McDERMOTT

THIS WILL BE PROBABLY THE MOST DIFFICULT GAME OF THE SEASON FOR US SO FAR.

It will be and besides the two points that are on offer there is added spice because of all the controversy that happened the last time Saints were at Valley Parade. I suppose Saints will have that on their minds but all we want from the game is the two points. They have a bee in their bonnet about the fact they have never won in Bradford in the Super League era and that is something we are very proud of. Saints have been a very successful side since the dawn of Super League but they have had no success either at Valley Parade or Odsal and we want to keep that record going.

There are not so many games left in the season now and it would be a great physiological boost if we could beat them and keep our home record. We would be four points clear with so few games left and that would be a great cushion for us. We never think we can afford to lose a game but it is a tough competition and a four-point cushion would be great for us. It would be great for our confidence and enable us to go into games very relaxed, which is when we play at our best.

They have some great players and I don ' t think they have a weak link from 1 to 17. They are great games between Saints and Bradford and to beat them we will have to raise our performance and the standard of the game will just go through the roof. Whatever the result it will be a fantastic game.

TEAM NEWS

Richard Moore will come back into contention as he has now recovered from the Toe injury that kept him out of last week?s game at Halifax. Paul Anderson and Brandon Costin are both still not ready for a return to action.

MILESTONES

James Lowes needs 8 points for a career total of 600.

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

Nathan McAvoy 1 try for a total of 50 for the Bulls.

Nathan McAvoy needs one try for a career total of 500 points.

Robbie Paul needs 10 points for 500 for the Bulls. He has scored 122 tries and kicked 1 goal in 218 appearances for the club.

Paul Deacon has kicked 120 goals from 146 attempts this season giving him an average success rate of 82.19% for the Bulls. He has also kicked 6 goals from 6 attempts for Lancashire giving him an overall percentage of 82.89%.

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