2007 Bradford Bulls season: Difference between revisions

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Bradford Bulls Season 2007
League	Super League (Europe)
Coach	Steve McNamara
League position
Top goalscorer
Highest attendance
Lowest attendance
Challenge Cup	Semi Finalists

In 2007, Bradford Northern/Bulls are celebrating the centenary of the club, it being 100 years since the formation of Bradford Northern.

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV	Report
2/11/2007	1	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	18-14	Huddersfield Giants	Won	Hape, Solomona, Morrison;	Deacon 3/4	12,130	Super League XII		[1]
18/02/07	2	Warrington Wolves	20-36	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Platt 3, Morrison, Vainikolo, Evans;	Deacon 6/7	12,607	Super League XII		[2]
24/02/07	3	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	32-28	Wigan Warriors	Won	Vainikolo 3, Morrison, Newton;	Deacon 6/6	12,798	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[3]

Their Carnegie Challenge Cup campaign began with a home tie against National League side Castleford Tigers in the 4th Round. After a tense match the Bulls ran out 24-16 winners. Bradford now faced a trip to Belle Vue to face fellow Super League club Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in the 5th Round.

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
02/03/07	4	St. Helens	34-22	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	-	Hape 2, Langley, Solomona;	Deacon 3/4	11,793	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[4]
11/03/07	5	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	56-18	Salford City Reds	Won	Platt 3, Hape 2, McKenna 2, Solomona, St Hilaire, Henderson;	Deacon 8/10	10,640	Super League XII		[5]
17/03/07	6	Harlequins RL	[22-36	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Morrison 2, Langley, Vainikolo, I Harris, Platt;	Deacon 6/6	04,011	Super League XII		[6]
25/03/07	7	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	22-29	Catalans Dragons	-	Evans 2, Platt, Deacon;	Deacon 3/4	11,298	Super League XII		[7]
30/03/07	CCC4	File:Bullscolours.pngBradford	24-16	Castleford Tigers	Won	Morrison, St Hilaire, Vainikolo, Solomona;	Deacon 4/4)	06,748	Challenge Cup		[8]

On the 30th April 2007 Steve McNamara was appointed Great Britain assistant coach to Tony Smith

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
05/04/07	8	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	14-18	Leeds Rhinos	-	St Hilaire, Vainikolo;	Deacon 3/5	16,706	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[9]
09/04/07	9	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	24-36	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Vainikolo 2, Solomona, Henderson, McKenna, Platt;	Deacon 6/7	09,106	Super League XII		[10]
15/04/07	10	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	52-22	Hull KR	Won	Iestyn Harris 2, Lynch 2, Halley, Ben Harris, Solomona, Langley, Platt;	Deacon 8/9	10,881	Super League XII		[11]
20/04/07	11	Hull F.C.	22-32	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Evans 2, Newton, Harris, Vagana, Lynch;	Deacon 4/6	12,767	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[12]
29/04/07	12	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	36-24	Warrington Wolves	Won	Deacon, Vainikolo, Platt 2, Evans, Langley;	Deacon 3/3, I Harris 3/5;	11,200	Super League XII		[13]

On the 6th May 2007, Bradford Bulls were involved in a controversial situation. During the Millennium Magic weekend, two decisions from referee Steve Ganson which gave the game in the dying seconds to the Leeds Rhinos who won 38-42. After the Match Steve Ganson admitted having made mistakes, which lead to a call from Bradford Bulls Chairman Peter Hood for the points to be awarded to Bradford Bulls. In May 2007 one of the greatest wingers to play for the Bulls Lesley Vainikolo joined Gloucester RFC, Bulls signed 24-year-old Tame Tupou from 2006 NRL champions Brisbane Broncos as Les's replacement.

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
06/05/07	*13	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	38-42	Leeds Rhinos	-	Platt 2, Vainikolo, B Harris, Henderson, Lynch;	Deacon 7/7	26,667	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[14]
13/05/07	CCC5	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	4-14	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Vainikolo 2, Cook;	Deacon 1/3	03,568	Challenge Cup	File:BBC-sportident.png	[15]
18/05/07	14	Huddersfield Giants	36-12	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford		Vainikolo, B Harris;	I Harris 2/2	08,667	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[16]
27/05/07	15	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	44-18	Harlequins RL	Won	Vainikolo 3, Vagana, Deacon, Morrison, Henderson, Hawkyard;	Deacon 6/8	10,418	Super League XII		[17]

*Round 13 played at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

The Bulls faced a tough schedule in June and July, they beat Hull F.C. 34-8 in round 17, then went onto beat Leeds Rhinos 38-14 which was Lesley Vainikolos last game with the Bulls, then in round 19 they played Wigan Warriors at JJB score was 25-18 to Wigan and then the Bulls went to beat St Helens 10-4 in round 20 at Grattan Stadium. These games went along way to proving whether they have the things to become champions at the end of the season.

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
02/06/07	16	Catalans Dragons	20-28	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Tries: Vagana, Vainikolo, Deacon, Newton, Evans;	Deacon 4/5	07,555	Super League XII		[18]
10/06/07	CCCQF	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	52-20	Huddersfield Giants	Won	Ben Harris (2), Tupou (2), St Hilaire, Newton, Henderson, Burgess, Solomona;	Deacon 8/10	07,811	Challenge Cup	File:BBC-sportident.png	[19]
17/06/07	17	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	34-8	Hull F.C.	Won	Newton 4, Deacon, Tupou;	Deacon 4/6, Vainikolo 1/1	11,557	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[20]
29/06/07	18	Leeds Rhinos	14-38	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Vainikolo, Evans, Tupou, Lynch, Morrison, St Hilaire;	Deacon 7/7	22,000	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[21]

The Bulls were docked two Super League competition points when an independent panel found that the Bradford Bulls club had breached the Salary Cap by four per cent.The points deduction takes immediate effect and applies to the 2007 season and therefore the current engage Super League competition table. The Bulls reached the semi of Challenge cup in July 2007 but were defeated by St Helens.

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
06/07/07	19	Wigan Warriors	25-18	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	-	Evans, Harris;	Deacon 5/5	15,107	Super League XII		[22]
13/07/07	20	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	10-4	St. Helens	Won	St Hilaire;	Deacon 3/3	11,217	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[23]
21/07/07	21	Salford City Reds	14-10	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	-	Tupou 2;	Deacon 1/2	03,438	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[24]
28/07/07	**CCCSF	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	16-35	St. Helens	-	Evans, Tupou, Vagana;	Deacon 1/3	14,316	Challenge Cup	File:BBC-sportident.png	[25]

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
05/08/07	22	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	38-24	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	Won	Evans 2, Halley, Morrison, Tupou, Solomona, Burgess;	Burgess 5/8	10,701	Super League XII		[26]
12/08/07	23	Hull KR	10-28	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	Won	Burgess, Newton, Morrison, Henderson, St Hilaire;	I Harris 4/5	06,695	Super League XII		[27]
19/08/07	24	Huddersfield Giants	26-22	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	-	Solomona, Henderson, McKenna;	Harris 5/5	06,824	Super League XII		[28]

In September to celebrate there Centenary Season T & A Bradford's local paper are commissioning a team of the century (see below for details). Bradford Bulls will play Leeds Rhinos in a all star match of touch rugby, Deryk Fox, Karl Fairbank, James Lowes etc will turn out for the Bulls while the likes of Gary Schofield, Lee Crookes and Dave Heron etc will turn out for the Rhinos, the game will be played before Round 25 game between Bradford Bulls and Leeds Rhinos

Bradford Signed Paul Sykes from Harlequins and Other poised to move to Odsal include Wakefield duo Ben Jeffries and Semi Tadulala, along with Huddersfield centre or second row Chris Nero and Hull hooker Wayne Godwin, while the Bulls are also being linked with Salford loose forward Simon Finnigan.

Date	Rd	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Result	Tries	Goals	Attendance	Competition	TV
02/09/07	25	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	16-16	Leeds Rhinos	Draw	Lynch, B Harris, Evans;	Deacon 2/4	18,000	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png	[29]
09/09/07	26	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	0-0	Catalans Dragons	-			-
14/09/07	27	Hull F.C.	0-0	File:Bullscolours.png Bradford	-			-	Super League XII
21/9/07	PO1	3rd	-	6th	-			-	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png
22/9/07	PO2	4th	-	5th	-			-	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png
28/9/07	PO3	1st	-	2nd			-	-	Super League XII	File:Skysportslogoaug07.png

As of Rd 25, 31 August, 2007:

• Appearances and Points include all matches

No		Player	Position	Weight & Height	Age	Previous Club	Contracted Until	App	Tries	Goals	DG	Points
1		Marcus St Hilaire	Full Back	95 kg & 5 ft 10	30	Halifax RLFC	2007	22	7	0	0	28
2		Nathan McAvoy	Winger	104 kg,6 ft 4”	30	Wigan Warriors	2007	27	0	0	0	0
3		Ben Harris	Centre	97 kg, 5 ft 10	23	Canterbury Bulldogs	2007	27	7	0	0	28
4		Shontayne Hape	Centre	104 kg, 6 ft 2	25	New Zealand Warriors	2008	7	5	0	0	20
6		Iestyn Harris	Stand Off	92 kg, 6 ft	31	Cardiff Blues	2008	23	2	12	0	36
7		Paul Deacon (c)	Scrum Half	80 kg, 5 ft 9	28	Oldham Bears	2008	25	5	114	0	248
8		Joe Vagana	Prop	120 kg, 6 ft 3	32	New Zealand Warriors	2008	26	6	0	0	024
9		Terry Newton	Hooker	98 kg, 5 ft 10 in	28	Wigan Warriors	2008	23	9	0	0	36
10		Andy Lynch	Prop	108 kg, 6 ft 2 in	27	Castleford Tigers	2008	27	6	0	0	24
11		Chris McKenna	Second Rower	97 kg, 6 ft 3 in	32	Leeds Rhinos	2007	24	4	0	0	16
12		Glenn Morrison (vc)	Second Rower	97 kg, 6 ft	31	Parramatta Eels	2008	25	10	0	0	42
13		Jamie Langley	Loose Forward	108 kg, 6 ft 2 in	23	Bradford Bulls Academy	2010	18	4	0	0	16
14		Chris Feather	Prop	114 kg, 6 ft 4 in	25	Leeds Rhinos	2009	15	0	0	0	0
15		Matt Cook	Second Rower	95 kg, 6 ft	20	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	14	1	0	0	4'
16		Ian Henderson	Hooker	91 kg, 5 ft 9 in	24	Parramatta Eels	2007	29	7	0	0	28
17		James Evans	Centre	89 kg, 6 ft	28	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	2008	22	11	0	0	44
18		Sam Burgess	Prop	111 kg, 6 ft 3 in	18	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	27	3	5	0	22
19		Michael Platt	Full Back	93 kg, 6 ft 2 in	23	Castleford Tigers	2008	25	14	0	0	56
20		Tame Tupou	Winger	110 kg, 195 cm	24	Brisbane Broncos	2011	10	8	0	0	32
22		Craig Kopczak	Prop	98 kg, 6 ft 4 in	20	Bradford Bulls Academy	2007	4	0	0	0	0
23		Matt James	Prop	100 kg, 6 ft 2 in	20	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	12	0	0	0	0
24		Dave Halley	Winger	78 kg, 5 ft 9 in	21	Bradford Bulls Academy	2009	7	2	0	0	8
25		Jason Crookes	Loose Forward	83 kg, 5 ft 10	17	Bradford Bulls Academy	2008	0	0	0	0	0
26		David Solomona	Second Rower	108 kg, 6 ft	29	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats	2009	29	9	0	0	38
27		Richard Hawkyard	Scrum half	00&00	21	Bradford Bulls Academy	0000	3	1	0	0	4

2007 Transfers in

	Name	Signed From	Fee	Date
	Glenn Morrison	Parramatta Eels		November 2006
	Chris Feather	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		November 2006
	Michael Platt	Castleford Tigers		November 2006
	James Evans	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		November 2006
	David Solomona	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		November 2006
	Nathan McAvoy	Wigan Warriors		November 2006

2007 Transfers out

	Name	Sold To	Fee	Date
	Adam Watene	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		July 2006
	Ryan Atkins	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		July 2006
	Brett Ferres	Wakefield Trinity Wildcats		November 2006
	Karl Pryce	Gloucester Rugby Club		November 2006
	Michael Withers	Wigan Warriors		November 2006
	Marcus Bai	Retired		November 2006
	Mark Flanagan	Wigan Warriors		November 2006
	Stuart Fielden	Wigan Warriors		July 2006
	Paul Johnson	Warrington Wolves		November 2006
	Stanley Gene	Hull Kingston Rovers		November 2006
	Matty Brooks	Hull Kingston Rovers		November 2006
	Andy Smith	Harlequins RL		November 2006
	Tony Tonks	Oldham		November 2006
	Brad Meyers	Gold Coast Titans		November 2006