Bradford Bulls 6 St Helens 38: Sparkling Pryce hits Bradford on return to Odsal

The Saints stand-off, who played 190 times for the West Yorkshire club before his switch in 2006, was pivotal to most things the visitors created, having a hand in four of his side's tries.

That his performance overshadowed that of four-try Paul Wellens illustrated how Pryce has turned around a career that last season seemed to have stuttered along.

The fact it was one of their former heroes will have done nothing to ease the pain for Bradford supporters who had to witness a terrible home display from their team.

It took a last-minute try from Matt Orford to finally get the home side on the scoreboard and spare the indignity of being whitewashed on their own turf.

"It was hugely disappointing," said coach Steve McNamara. "We were way off the mark, particularly in the first half. Saints were hot and Leon Pryce played as well as I have seen him play.

"There were a lot of things that looked rusty. It wasn't a great performance at all. Maybe it was part of a process we need to go through as a group to get to where we want to get to.

"We weren't at the races. We expected to perform better but there were obviously reasons for that and we need to rectify that.

"We started okay but then Saints hit us with a whirlwind," he added.

"I thought their offensive play at times was electrifying. They played with a lot more intensity with the ball than we did."

Both sides were guilty of handling errors which allowed promising attacks to flounder, with Francis Melli looking dangerous for Saints.

It took until 12 minutes for Saints to trouble the scorers. Bradford came close but Jamie Langley was held up just short of the line. They were made to pay when Jon Wilkin went over for a try, converted by Kyle Eastmond.

And the visitors' No 7 kicked a penalty after Bradford were penalised for tackling without the ball after a break from Pryce.

St Helens were piling the pressure on Bradford and it needed a last-ditch tackle from Brett Kearney to halt Melli in full flow. But the Bulls could not keep the Saints at bay, as Wellens scrambled over for a try and Eastmond converted to make it 14-0.

Wellens then went over for his second try, capitalising on some good work from Pryce and James Roby. Eastmond converted.

The Bulls, let down by some poor tactical kicking, were struggling to break out of their own half. When Dave Halley did kick and find space, chasing down the ball, a team-mate conceded a penalty and the slight whiff of impetus was lost.

The half-time hooter was greeted by a chorus of boos from the home contingent as the new-look Bradford struggled to gel.

Whatever McNamara said at the break certainly seemed to have given the Bulls new vision, as they camped on the Saints tryline but could not provide that final push, Wayne Godwin going closest but held up just short.

Nick Scruton's break had the Bulls fans on their feet but with Saints stretched, Orford's long pass out wide was superbly taken by Eastmond who raced away, Halley finally giving up the chase with the race lost. Eastmond converted his own try and Bradford's early promise in the second start had come to nothing.

Rikki Sheriffe threatened to open Bradford's account on 62 minutes, but had the ball ripped out in the tackle. From the resulting penalty, Bulls kept up the pressure and Godwin seemed certain to score but dropped the ball over the tryline.

Stuart Reardon was next to fumble when close to Saints' line, prompting a trickle of Bulls fans to head for the exits.

When Saints marched up the field for Wellens to complete his hat-trick, that trickle started to gush.

Eastmond's conversion pushed the scores along to 32-0 and the statisticians reaching for the Super League books for the last time Bradford were whitewashed at home.

It was becoming embarrassing for Bradford as the visitors looked like they could score at will. And so they did as Matt Gidley found Wellens and he somersaulted over the tryline to celebrate his fourth score of the afternoon.

Eastmond was left with a difficult conversion on the touchline, but everything was going against the Bulls and the impressive scrum-half continued his 100 per cent record.

When the PA announcer read the 10,165 attendance, there was probably only half that number left, and those that did sniggered as the Bulls man of the match was announced. Scruton probably deserved it, but on a terrible afternoon for Bradford it was of little consolation with the scoreboard reading 0-38.

Orford finally grabbed a late converted try, but it did nothing to paper over a torrid opening home weekend for the Bulls.

St Helens coach Mick Potter tipped Pryce to have a successful season.

Pryce, discarded by England for last autumn's Four Nations tournament after a poor season with his club, was a constant menace.

"It was good to see Paul score four and Leon involved in a few," said Potter afterwards.

"We know what they can do but doing it is a different proposition. Leon was at his best for the first time since some time last season. It is a challenge for him to produce it every week but I think he's ready for a big season."

The Australian was also happy to see his men banish the memories of their 32-12 opening-night defeat to Hull last weekend.

"It was a very good win, a comprehensive one," he added.

"I thought how we played defensively was the most pleasing thing after last week.

"It always feels good to run in points and I think the players will get some confidence out of what they did, they know that they can do it."

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

St Helens: Wellens, Lomax, Gidley, Wheeler, Meli, Pryce, Eastmond, Fozzard, Moore, Graham, Flannery, Wilkin, Puletua. Substitutes: Roby, Clough, Fa'asavalu, Hargreaves.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).