Bulls are back in business thanks to Cummins

A quarter of the season has already been completed and Bradford Bulls have quietly negotiated their way into the admirable position of third.

If you want to take that a little further, you could even say joint-second with Wigan Warriors although three other sides can all lay claim to that, too, given they are locked together on nine points.

Regardless, for a club that has won four titles in the summer era, that might still not seem such an accolade to hail, but considering Bradford’s more vulnerable recent past it is noteworthy.

Next week will mark a year since then chairman Peter Hood announced to a stunned rugby league world that the Bulls desperately required £1m to avoid going bust.

It set in motion a chain of events which have been well chronicled, creating months of huge uncertainty and genuine fears that the famous club would cease to exist.

Of course, Omar Khan did eventually assuage that when the charismatic restaurateur invested the money required to save Bradford from such a fate last September.

However, most onlookers thought 2013 would be a difficult campaign for the redeemed club with plenty of time, effort and no little good fortune required to get them back on an even keel.

They finished ninth last term – that would have been seventh if not for a six-point deduction for entering administration – and lost a lot of experienced players while they were also behind on recruitment given the time Khan’s takeover needed to be completed.

While Khan and his associates are diligently trying to make the business work, on the field head coach Francis Cummins has seen his threadbare squad make significant strides.

On Sunday, Bradford inflicted a 34-12 defeat on Hull KR, one of the sides they are expected to be fighting it out with for the eighth and final play-off spot.

It was a fourth victory of the season and, really, should have been a fifth, Bradford having collapsed in the second half at Widnes the week before to manage only a draw.

Cummins, the bright assistant who took over from Mick Potter at the end of last season, has certainly taken charge of the squad, impressed on them his own playing beliefs, and managed to take them to a new level.

One of his mantras is that his side is not star-studded and there needs to be a consistent performance from all of his players if they are to garner a win.

Crucially, the ex-Leeds Rhinos winger is getting that regular high level of display and that is, in large, down to his own promptings.

Ask any player and he will say that Cummins – one of the youngest head coaches at just 36 – has brought the best out of him.

When you combine that collectively, it is easy to see how Bradford have become such a difficult side to beat.

His man-management has been second to none and the team spirit, already forged after sticking together through last year’s turbulent times, is evident to see.

Brett Kearney, the elusive Australian full-back, is thriving in the involved role Cummins has created for him and has scored in all seven games, taking his tally to nine at the weekend.

Similarly, fellow countryman Jarrod Sammut, the maverick half-back, is possibly playing his best football since marking his arrival in Super League with a brilliant individual try on debut for the Crusaders against Bradford at Magic Weekend three years ago.

Nick Scruton has come of age, maturing into the rounded front-row his potential always hinted at when first working under Cummins at Leeds, while a revitalised Chev Walker is delivering his best since leaving Headingley for Bath RU in 2006.

However, most pleasing has been the development of Bradford’s array of young players.

It was a tweet from one of those tyros – James Donaldson – after that Rovers triumph that reminded everyone of just how many there are enriching Cummins’s side. The 21-year-old loose-forward wrote: “Every one stood up + was counted! Felt like academy days with all the young lads playing together again!”

Indeed it was. The all-action Cumbrian was joined in the back-row by man of the match Tom Olbison, another former England Academy international who turns 22 tomorrow, while Elliott Whitehead, 23, switched from second-row to centre to facilitate the return of the latest, most promising Bradford youngster John Bateman.

With key personnel injured, 22-year-old Danny Addy demonstrated his growing authority at stand-off while Jobe Murphy, 20, and Adam O’Brien, 19, ensured the momentum did not slacken when they came off the bench.

Cummins is smart enough to know there is plenty still to be done given the tough challenge awaiting in Perpignan on Saturday followed by a taxing Easter programme, including Leeds.

But there is enough character and class in his squad to suggest they can still be there challenging come September and a first play-off spot in five years is attainable.

With England Knights scrum-half Luke Gale nearing his first game of the season after ankle surgery, Bradford have more positive news around the corner.