2020 Matches
2019 Matches
FIRST TEAM SQUAD
LAST TIME OUT
Head Coach: John Kear
John Kear is probably the most experienced head coach in
this country. His career began at Bramley in 1992 and since then he has held
the position at Paris Saint Germain (1995-96), Sheffield Eagles (1997-99),
Huddersfield-Sheffield Giants (2000), Hull FC (2005-06), Wakefield Trinity
(2006-11), Batley Bulldogs (2011-16) and Bradford Bulls from 2018. And on the
international scene he has also been head coach to France, England, Great
Britain and Wales (where he has led them to qualification for the 2021 World
Cup).
Two matches in his coaching career really stand out in
the memory. The first, of course, has to be the shock Challenge Cup win for
Sheffield over Wigan at Wembley in 1998. The most dramatic came in 2006. He
took over at Wakefield who looked completely doomed to relegation but he led
them to four wins in their last 6 matches ending with a shock win over
Castleford in the last match resulting in escape from relegation at the expense
of Castleford.
That was somewhat ironical because John Kear’s entire
playing career was at Castleford, mainly as a winger, from 1978 to 1988.
And, last year, he was at it again when his Bradford team
knocked Leeds out of the Challenge Cup.
Captain: Steve Crossley
Steve Crossley took
over as Bradford captain in 2019. His first grade career began with hometown
club Bradford Bulls in 2010 with 7 off-the-bench appearances. During the
following year he played for Dewsbury Rams on dual reg as well as making
further appearances for the Bulls. In 2012 he signed for Dewsbury and moved
onto Fev for the 2013 and 2014 seasons. In 2015 he signed for Castleford but in
April transferred back to Bradford. He spent the 2017 season with Toronto and
then for 2018 yet again (for the 4th time!) came back to the Bulls. He is an
out and out prop forward, every one of his 139 career appearances in the
starting line-up having been at prop. Including sub appearances he has played 213
games. He has the remarkable record, especially for a prop forward of never
having been either sin-binned or sent off.
New Signings for 2020
This year
Bradford have signed Sam Barlow, prop
who has been out of the game having received a four year ban dating from November
2015 after an ‘altercation’ with a UK doping official. He made his first grade
début with Sheffield Eagles in 2009. He joined Halifax in 2011 and during 2013
came on loan to Fev from Halifax. He then joined Leigh in 2014 and was there
when he received his ban.
Matty Dawson-Jones, wing, who was
born in Pontefract, has been signed from Hull FC. He is a prolific try scorer
who started with Huddersfield in 2012 and had a loan spell with Doncaster in
2013. In 2014 he joined Saint Helens where he remained until being transferred
to Leigh in July 2016. Whilst at Saint Helens he played for Rochdale on dual
reg in both 2014 and 2015. He then joined Hull FC last year but after playing
in the 1st game of the season sat out the rest of the year with a knee injury.
In 2018 he had been Leigh’s 2nd highest try scorer with 18 tries beaten only by
the 21 scored by … Craig Hall!
Anthony England, prop, has
joined Bradford from Wakefield. He made his début for Castleford but then
returned to the amateur game before joining Batley from Dewsbury Celtic in June
2008. In 2009 he re-joined Castleford but didn’t play in the 1st team and went
on loan to Gateshead Thunder. In 2010 he moved to Dewsbury and after 2 seasons
there he spent 2 years at Fev. That was followed by 2 years at Warrington (2014
and 2015) and during 2014 he played once for Swinton on dual reg. He moved to
Wakefield in 2017.
Greg Johnson, wing, has
joined Bradford after 6 seasons at Salford. He started with Wakefield in 2011
but his contract was terminated when he received a prison sentence. In 2013 he
joined Batley and then moved to Salford in 2014. He played for Jamaica in 2010.
Levy Nzoungou, prop, was
born in the Congo and moved to France at the age of eight. He was at the Saint
Helens academy in 2015 and 2016 and then had a few months with the Melbourne
Storm Academy in 2017. He returned to France with Toulouse in 2017 where he
made his professional début. In 2018 he joined Salford but only played 3 games
spending most of the year at Whitehaven (loan), Oldham (dual reg) and Swinton
(loan). Last year he joined Hull FC but just made 1 sub appearance and spent
most of the year at Doncaster on dual reg.. In 2016 he played for the France
U18 team.
Dan Waite-Pullan, second row,
was a late addition to the Bradford squad when he joined from Leeds in mid-January.
Last year he played 7 games on loan for Dewsbury.
Dual
Registration and Loans
The
Bulls have signed a dual registration agreement with Hull FC but no Hull
players have played for Bradford on dual so far.
In
the Bulls squad are two Hull KR players on loan. Rowan Milnes, stand-off, was actually signed by Hull KR after 2 years
at Bradford during the off-season but has been loaned back to them. Adam Rooks, second row,
The Fev
Connection
Transfers
between Bradford and Featherstone have been fairly frequent in the past and one
such is Dane Chisholm who moved to Fev
last April, on loan, and then permanently in May. Dale Ferguson played for Bradford from 2014 to 2016 and Brett Ferres spent the first two years
(2005 and 2006) at Bradford.
There are 7 members of the
current Bradford squad who have worn the Featherstone shirt. Sam Barlow played
9 games on loan in 2013. Steve Crossley was a stand-out player
who made 51 appearances for Fev in 2013 and 2014. Anthony England was at Fev in 2012 and 2013 and Connor Farrell was
a regular member of the Rovers team in 2018 after coming on loan from
Wigan in July 2017. George Flanagan was also a Rovers player
in 2014. Jordan Lilley played for Fev on dual reg in 2016 and
2018. There is also Dan
Waite-Pullan (see new signings) who never played a competitive match
for Fev but did play in the pre-season game against York this year.
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