McNamara rues 'missed opportunity' for Bradford

Despite being without eight of his first team squad, the Bulls pushed Warrington all the way before succumbing 40-28.

There was plenty of positives in the performance of a youthful Bradford side, which showed far greater assertiveness than the one which fell poorly at Crusaders, but McNamara said: "It was an improvement from last week in terms of enthusiasm and intensity. Was it good enough? Not for our standards at this moment in time.

"We conceded a couple of soft tries out of dummy half so there are still signs there for me that we still have some way to go.

"I understand when you look at the two salary cap values of the two teams, there is a ridiculous gap, but conceding such soft tries comes from lacking intensity at certain times.

"I'm not trying to be too down about things but I think it was a missed opportunity."

McNamara questioned the validity of Warrington's opening try and a number of other decisions during the game in which they twice fought back from 10-point deficits.

Opposite number Tony Smith also admitted his side were "out-enthused" by Bradford and were "fortunate" to come away from Odsal with victory.

One of the highlights for the hosts was the performance of debutant Cain Southernwood, the 18-year-old scrum-half, who delivered a promising display on his Super League debut.

Southernwood, who joined from Wakefield in a swap deal with Kieran Hyde earlier this season, impressed in England Under-18s' recent win over France and proved equally as effective on his first team bow.

"I thought Cain Southernwood made a good start to his Bradford career in what is a key position," added McNamara, who played alongside his father, former Castleford hooker Graham, with Great Britain Under-21s and Yorkshire Under- 16s two decades previously.

"He's a typical cheeky scrum-half and has a good future ahead of him if he continues his progression and development.

"I was really chuffed for him. He applied himself well and I just wish he could have capped his debut with a win."

Southernwood said: "Even though I'm only 18, I've been waiting a long time for this. I've been full-time for a couple of years now but Steve McNamara thought it was the right time to put me in and I felt I coped well.

"Everyone stood up from me, the youngest, to the oldest in Steve Menzies and it was a very tough game but we know we could have won it."