Bradford Bulls 12 Leigh Leopards 38: Super League learning curve continues for hosts against play-off hopefuls
There were always going to be afternoons like this.
For all the progress made this season, Bradford Bulls are still learning what it takes to compete week in, week out at Super League level.
That reality was underlined emphatically by Leigh Leopards on Sunday.
Bradford have won five games at Odsal but are still waiting for a statement victory after being outclassed by the in-form Leopards.
Josh Charnley stole the show with a hat-trick that took him past Ryan Hall as Super League's all-time leading tryscorer.
The record now stands at 272 tries, leaving Hall chasing the title he held for two years.
Beyond individual milestones, the Leopards are emerging as a serious threat to leaders Leeds Rhinos and the rest of the top six.
Adrian Lam's side, who have won six of their last seven games, will learn more about their credentials on Friday when they travel to Hull KR – the only team to have beaten them during that run.
Leigh showed the levels Bradford need to reach to become a Super League force with a clinical performance.
For the Bulls, it was another illustration of the standard required to turn promise into consistency.
But this was always likely to be a season of ups and downs — including afternoons like this at Odsal.
Kurt Haggerty has been keen to stress that Bradford's target is to be the strongest of the promoted sides after assembling a squad under tight time constraints.
In that respect, the Bulls remain on track. Indeed, they sit above established clubs Castleford Tigers and Huddersfield Giants at the halfway mark of the campaign.
The challenge for Haggerty's men is to bridge the gap to the next level in time for their Las Vegas showdown with Leigh next February.
The Bulls have won admirers on their long-awaited return to Super League but this was a day when their execution level did not match their ambition with the ball.
Bradford's commitment to expansive rugby was evident from the start.
The Bulls had joy on both edges in the early stages but lacked the composure to turn their chances into points.
Inevitably against a quality team, they soon paid the price at the other end.
There was a nod of respect from Leigh when they took the two through Adam Cook following a ball steal near the Bradford line.
But any suggestion it was a conservative decision was swiftly dispelled as the Leopards struck at the end of the restart set, Cook's kick bouncing perfectly for Charnley to edge closer to Hall.
Bradford's frustrations continued after Cook added the extras.
Any time they found themselves deep in Leigh territory, they were denied by tenacious goal-line defence.
Equally, the Bulls were guilty of unforced errors in an increasingly ragged performance.
Leigh, by contrast, played with control and found a tempo that Bradford struggled to live with.
Former Leopards full-back Caleb Aekins had a particularly difficult first half for the hosts.
Having been beaten to the ball by Charnley for the opener, Aekins could not take in Cook's high kick and was punished once more.
The Cook-Charnley combination proved Bradford's undoing again, the veteran winger stepping back inside to finish in heavy traffic from a neat cut-out pass.
Cook made no mistake from the touchline to leave the Bulls staring down the barrel at 14-0.
Bradford's cause was not helped by the loss of Eribe Doro to a failed head injury assessment but they could have no arguments with the half-time scoreline.
The Bulls needed to score next to keep the game alive and they did just that.
The home side had already threatened through Dan Russell when Chris Atkin dummied his way through and showed determination to finish under pressure from Charnley.
But Bradford quickly handed the initiative back to the Leopards.
Riley Dean, who had just added the extras to put the Bulls back to within eight points of the visitors, clattered David Armstrong on a kick chase and paid a heavy price.
Leigh moved upfield from the penalty and demonstrated their clinical edge once again, sweeping the ball out to the left where Innes Senior finished in the corner.
Charnley returned to centre stage to complete his hat-trick and nudge ahead of Hall from another Cook assist.
With the game gone, Bradford scored the kind of try they had been searching for all afternoon.
Andy Ackers cut Leigh open through the middle and Aekins was in support to add the finishing touches.
But the Bulls were a distant second best by the end of 80 sobering minutes.
The Leopards suffered a blow when man of the moment Charnley hobbled off but they finished with a flourish thanks to scrappy tries from Bailey Hodgson and Louis Brogan.
Bradford Bulls: Aekins, Armitage, Chamberlain, Blake, Ryan, Dean, Atkin, Sutton, Ackers, Doro, Fulton, Russell, Mellor. Substitutes: Gardiner, Scurr, Steinwede, Hooley.
Tries: Atkin (44), Aekins (60).
Goals: Dean 2/2.
Leigh Leopards: Armstrong, Senior, Hodgson, Hughes, Charnley, Cook, Lam, Ofahengaue, Ipape, Mulhern, Halton, Alick-Wiencke, Liu. Substitutes: Brogan, Pene, O'Brien, Horne.
Tries: Charnley (13, 31, 54), Senior (49), Hodgson (67), Brogan (71).
Goals: Cook 7/7.
Referee: Jack Smith.