Eamon O’Carroll, head coach of the Bradford Bulls, anticipates another challenging match this weekend at the Bartercard Odsal Stadium.
Tomorrow, his team takes on the formidable Widnes Vikings, who have won four of their previous five Betfred Championship games. Their lone loss came on a challenging trip to Featherstone Rovers.
O’Carroll, who played for Widnes for five seasons, is aware that the game this weekend will present the Bulls with yet another difficult challenge.
He stated, “They’re (Widnes) a quality team and are playing with a lot of confidence,” in reference to the game on Sunday.
“I know them well, and their spine in particular is well connected. It’s evident that they have a bond because they have played numerous professional games together since they were 13 years old. They are therefore very dangerous.
O’Carroll continued by acknowledging that the success his previous employers have had thus far has not come as a surprise.
“Not at all,” he uttered (astonished). I don’t really pay attention to the sounds outside.
It helps when you’ve been in the camp, which I have, but I know there was some distraction there at the beginning of the year and a belief that they wouldn’t be competitive.
We will need to perform to the best of our abilities because I have played at Widnes and I know a lot of the players.
The Bulls have already suffered a loss to the Vikings this season; at the end of February, they were defeated 26–12 at Odsal to be eliminated from the Challenge Cup.
Even though this weekend’s game is very different from the one last weekend, O’Carroll has acknowledged that they still need to concentrate on certain aspects of that game.
“Of course we have to look at that game,” he stated. Since both teams have improved significantly since then, we won’t be concentrating only on that match, but we still need to be aware of the things we did well and the things they did well against us.
I’ve carefully examined that as well as the other games they’ve played, but we’ll be prepared and ready to go.
O’Carroll announced that he will be missing this weekend’s game at York due to injuries sustained by Dan Smith, Chester Butler, and Zac Fulton.
“We’re not sure how long Dan will be missing, but we hope to get him back soon as he’ll be a big miss,” the speaker stated, referring to Dan’s calf injury.
“Chester will miss several games due to a nasty blow to his hip, and Zac will miss this weekend’s play because he is still undergoing the proper treatment for a head injury.”
“We’ll know more details about those three very soon.”
