Bradford Bulls 40 Hull Kingston Rovers 4: Bradford demolish Robins as coaches eye post

STEVE McNAMARA may be walking away from Odsal at the end of the season but the coach who succeeds him will have a good platform to bring success back to Bradford Bulls if yesterday's six-try performance was anything to go by.

The Bulls were ruthless when they needed to be in attack – taking a strangehold on the match with two early tries from the impressive Elliott Whitehead and Andy Lynch – before showing solid defence to snaffle out any hopes of a Hull Kingston Rovers fightback at the start of the second half.

Doubles from Brett Kearney and Rikki Sheriffe wrapped up the points late on to cap a good week for McNamara, who was confirmed as the new England coach in the run-up to the match and will leave the Bulls at the end of the season to take up the full-time role.

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Bulls chairman Peter Hood revealed coaches have already started to "throw their hats in the ring" to fill McNamara's shoes and if they were watching this Odsal show they cannot have failed to have been impressed.

McNamara said: "I think the defence was the highlight of it. I think offensively the conditions were difficult.

"It was a good all-round performance. It poured down with rain just before the start of the game but we did the basic things well.

"I know we keep talking about Easter but you would start to feel the after effects now and we still managed to do the basic things.

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"We held onto possession, didn't give too many penalties away and controlled the play-the-balls so we could defend. We'll be disappointed we conceded a try, but we went 80 minutes at Dewsbury last week and then 80 minutes again today, and we've only conceded four points."

The Bulls started the brighter, Shaun Briscoe losing the ball in the tackle near to his own posts, as they looked to build on a recent impressive run which has seen them pick up five points from Easter week – a draw against Leeds Rhinos followed by wins over Crusaders and Catalans Dragons.

So it was no surprise when Bradford took the lead on eight minutes. Lynch powered through a cluster of Rovers players who failed to keep him out.

Some nifty footwork from Whitehead created a gaping hole in the visiting defence, before sidestepping Briscoe and racing over four minutes later.

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Matt Orford had the simple task of converting both efforts from in front of the posts as Bradford took a 12-0 lead without breaking sweat.

Maybe it was a hangover from the Robins' Challenge Cup 40-12 hammering at Huddersfield Giants a week earlier, but they had started sluggishly.

Kearney was at the heart of most things for Bradford, and he came close to extending their lead but his 33rd-minute 'try' was wiped out by referee James Child for a forward pass.

Michael Dobson, so usually the heartbeat of this Rovers side, summed up his side's poor first half when he kicked out on the full from halfway.

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Instead of a rare forray into the home side's territory, Hull KR were forced on the back foot yet again, defending their line and would have been glad to only have been down 12-0 at the break.

Bulls chairman Hood – who has not ruled out bringing in a foreign coach to replace McNamara next season – would have been pleased to see the off-field activities this week had not affected Bradford's performance and attitude.

"Steve's ambition to one day coach his country has never been a secret, and if he didn't do it now who can say if the chance would ever come again," said Hood.

"That said, he's passionate about the club and I'm sure it was a very tough decision.

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"Being disappointed is a luxury we can't afford. It was clear right away that Steve's decision was final, so we move on."

The second-half started with some decent Rovers possession, so it was no surprise when Bradford opted to kick a penalty to add the two points and stretch their advantage to three scores.

Rhys Lovegrove was penalised for trying to steal the ball off Bulls' Steve Menzies, and Orford showed composure to boot over the long-range penalty.

Rovers trio Clint Newton, Michael Vella and Jake Webster gained precious ground as they attempted to breach the Bradford line, but the home defence were well-drilled.

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Both sides were now cancelling each other out, the Bulls happy to defend their lead.

Orford kicked another penalty on 56 minutes to nudge the score to 16-0 before Bradford's patience finally paid off with two quickfire tries from Sherriffe.

First a rampaging break from Michael Worrincy created the space, and when the ball was tossed out wide to Sherriffe, he tiptoed down the touchline for a try.

Then Sherriffe was left all alone as Michael Platt attracted the defender and Menzies picked out the Bulls winger for a simple score.

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Orford continued his 100 per cent kicking record with his sixth successful kick of the afternoon to make it 28-0.

Bradford were now threatening to make it embarrassing for the Robins as they hammered the Hull KR line, Brett Kearney next to cross with 10 minutes remaining, Orford converting.

To rub salt into the visitors' wounds, Webster was sent off for a high tackle on Menzies, and then Hull KR's Kris Welham looked to have finally broke away, but he ran out of steam.

Rovers prevented a whitewash with three minutes left when Ben Cockayne was slipped in by Dobson, who missed the conversion.

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But the Bulls had the final word when man-of-the-match Whitehead raced away and Kearney was in support to pick up the loose ball and scamper over. Orford converted as the final hooter sounded.

Hull KR coach Justin Morgan said: "We just lacked a bit of concentration in defence at times and gave away way too much field position during the first-half.

"We looked a little bit agitated with the ball in hand and lacked a bit of confidence, that might come from last weekend's game.

"Our execution was a little bit poor, we didn't take the right options but the issue was that we lacked concentration.

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"Defensively we didn't concentrate as well as we could have."

Bradford: Kearney, Sheriffe, Platt, Nero, Halley, Sykes, Orford, Scruton, L'Estrange, Lynch, Whitehead, Donaldson, Menzies. Substitutes: Godwin, Worrincy, Kopczak, Hall.

Hull KR: Briscoe, Fox, Welham, Webster, Cockayne, I'Anson, Dobson, Vella, Fisher, Clinton, Newton, Netherton, Murrell. Substitutes: Watts, Lovegrove, Spaven, Cook.

Referee: J Child (Dewsbury).