Humdinger of a derby coming up.  Fax are flying under Eastmond.  Could be messy, they out enthused us last time we played there and have a better siee this year.  


Any news on Gill's injury?  

Looking forward to this and dreading it in equal measures. Fax are absolutely flying at the minute and a loss for us leaves us at risk of mid table mediocrity (admittedly it's still early days). Hope there's a good crowd/cracking atmosphere/cracking game and of course a committed display from the Bulls. A win is always preferable but like most of our supporters I want some consistency and commitment. That in itself tends to lead to more wins than losses. COYB.

Last year we had plenty of field position but didn't take our chances.  I remember the Fax kicking game being far superior and their forwards were really up for it.  Kevin Larroyer in particular was playing like Willie Mason.  


With Keyes in our side now I'm hoping the kicking game is better.  Scurr should be back for this one which is a bonus.  Shame Holmes is out long term, although Hooley has done well he's not as good in attack as Holmes.

From a fax perspective it's a 50/50 game , bradford have recruited well and you would have expected a flying start from them , biggest difference for fax is a new pack from lasts year game with dixon , Douglas and calcott all playing plus tangata who is now in the second row with mccarron,  hanson so far has had more freedom with our pack not been dominated and woody at 6 as meant more solid.  If I was bradford I would be targeting jouffret salty and tibbs under the high bombs who have been shaky in them scenarios. 

No idea how we'll go.  We've been quite inconsistent and can put in Jekyll and Hyde performances in the same 80s mins.  Would be great to see a proper 80mins performance against a good team.    If I were Fax I'd be looking to get in the faces of our more ill disciplined players (one for Hallas to miss out on hopefully) as we can be put off playing rugby fairly easily.    

Plenty of very confident Fax fans on Panthers social media on the back of the very good start they have made. It's their biggest game of the season and they will be up for it without a doubt.


Bradford need to turn up ready to put in a complete performance and show their intent for the season ahead. 


We have the quality on paper but are going to turn up as a team? If the early season Bulls show up, we should be good enough to grind out a good result.

I'm hoping this is a game that brings the best out of us. We haven't seen an 80 minute performance yet, but even while not looking great, we've still comfortably beaten some decent sides. And also served up some dross. We've seen glimpses of how good we can be. I'm just wanting to see the best out us from minute 1 and this has to be the game that really has us fired up, because rest assured, fax will be. 


They're playing some outstanding rugby under Eastmond who has proved many (including me) wrong. 


Meadows has to sort himself out. Giving 7 tackle 20 metre restarts on second tackles will see us well and truly punished in this game. 

For me, Scurr comes in. Do we drop Mason or Hallas?  Hallas' discipline/temper is a liability at times but he has utility value (Loose/hooker/prop) and a decent engine. Mason is an out & out prop and has been slowly gaining match fitness and forcing his way into contention. He seems to have edged ahead of Bayliss (prop) and Waine (prop/2nd row) in the coaches thinking. I think, we drop Hallas. Our discipline is what is losing us matches more than any other factor. 

Yes Scurr in for Hallas and Michael can cover loose forward to give Donno a break.  Gives us three big impact players off the bench.

Agreed. Masons doing well, Michael's been one of our best forwards and Scurr's just Scurr. Hallas 18th man. 

Feel there's a lot more pressure on us than fax. Fax lose they're still at least a point clear of everyone else in 1st. We lose and suddenly are aimlessly wandering in mid-table having just lost to our rivals. How we've spent the week off will be critical. 

Doro signed on loan for 2 weeks.Great news

Was surprised at that but it certainly gives the pack a lift.  Is anyone carrying a knock?   That would explain why he's in.  Assuming all are fit then I'd start Lawrence and Scurr up front and have Doro at loose forward with Pele, Michael and Donaldson off the bench.


That gives us plenty of go forward to begin with and when Lawrence goes off we have Donaldson coming on the field to provide the leadership.  Pele and Michael coming on to play prop will keep the go forward in the middle part of the game.