Warrington Wolves v Bradford Bulls: Kurt Haggerty stands by pre-season assessment amid sleepless nights

What stood out was the honesty of the admission coming from a coach.

That clarity of thought has helped underpin Bradford Bulls' encouraging return to Super League.

The Bulls have balanced realism with belief to win four of their opening 11 games despite an ongoing injury crisis.

If anything, the early months have reinforced Haggerty's pre-season assessment.

"I think it'd be absolutely unbelievable," he said in the build-up to Sunday's trip to Warrington Wolves.

"We know we're due bodies back in the coming weeks and months but you can't just hope and wait for those bodies to return; we need to keep competing and preparing to win.

"We've shown along the way that we can pick up some wins with that mentality. We're four wins from six at Odsal, which shows that we can compete."

Bradford's strong home form jars against their away record, which reads: five games, five defeats.

The importance of finding a cure for their travel sickness is not lost on Haggerty.

"That's my biggest frustration at the moment," he said. "That's driving me every week and also keeping me awake at night.

"The players sense my frustration and where we want to go to. We have to win these games on the road to be taken seriously.

"It was always about respect and that won't change. To earn respect, we have to win on the road as well."

The Bulls make their latest trip in good spirits after ending their five-match losing run with a hard-fought victory over 12-man Hull FC.

Haggerty, however, insists they would have travelled to the Halliwell Jones Stadium with belief regardless of last week's result.

"I don't think we wavered too much even when we were losing," he said. "We were always confident and understood the situation we were in.

"There's never been any panic. We've always prepared to win every game so when we did win the game against Hull, it was no great shock to us.

"We didn't have a great performance but that's the sign of a team that believes and wants to go on on a journey of winning more."

Bradford's injury issues appeared to be easing following the return of Eribe Doro, Jayden Nikorima, Jayden Okunbor, Waqa Blake and Luke Hooley, only for Haggerty to suffer fresh blows.

The Bradford boss had been hopeful of welcoming back Ryan Sutton this weekend but the prop must wait until after the Challenge Cup break.

"It's a week too soon for Ryan," said Haggerty.

"We've lost Ethan Ryan to a HIA, Andy Ackers is 50/50 and Loghan Lewis is struggling with a knee injury.

"We were starting to get bodies back, 14 injuries to 10, and now we've gone back up to about 13."

After losing at Wigan Warriors last time out on the road, it doesn't get any easier this week against the high-flying Wire.

Sam Burgess' side suffered Challenge Cup semi-final disappointment recently but are well placed in the top four in Super League.

"They've started well," said Haggerty. "They complete very high and have some very good players.

"They've got Marc Sneyd at seven who is still controlling the game and is one of the best pivots in the competition. They're a threat through his kicks so we've got a big job to eradicate what Marc does.

"They've got a pretty decent pack who go forward very well. They push and there's a bit of instinct in how they play.

"We've got to be very good this week."

Beyond the immediate grind of Super League, Bradford's ceiling is beginning to rise.

The three-time world club champions will be back at the centre of the rugby league universe early next year when they face Leigh Leopards in Las Vegas.

"It's pretty groundbreaking for us," said Haggerty.

"The big thing for me is that it shows how quickly this club wants to move forward and the ambition of where we want to go – back on that global stage.

"It's something I've had to manage in the environment because there's been a buzz around the place. Ultimately, my focus this week has been Warrington and getting us prepared for that."