Whitehead is no villain for wanting Bulls exit – L’Estrange

The England Knights second-row stunned the club this week when he said he wanted to leave to join a “top four” Super League club.

Coach Francis Cummins accepted Bradford-born Whitehead’s request and placed him on indefinite leave meaning he is out of their squad for tomorrow’s game at St Helens and has probably played his last game for the West Yorkshire outfit.

Salford City Reds, with their cash-rich owner Marwan Koukash, are believed to be keen on his services but, typically, champions Leeds Rhinos and leaders Wigan Warriors have both been mentioned as potential suitors.

Whitehead, 23, only signed a long-term deal with Bradford last season but has apparently grown disillusioned about the club’s lack of progress.

He is under contract until the end of 2016 so the Bulls are expected to command a six-figure fee for his services but the highly-rated player’s actions have, understandably, upset some sections of support.

However, Australian hooker L’Estrange told the Yorkshire Post last night: “Elliott’s coming off as a bad person but that’s not the case.

“I’m not saying there are any bad people involved in all of this but he’s had an offer to go somewhere and taken the advice to go.

“No one is going to stand in his way if he is looking for another job.

“He didn’t go behind anyone’s back; he came and told us all to our face.

“Elliott didn’t just keep it to himself or not turn up to training one day.

“He told the boys, good luck to him and we all still love him.

“He’s a homegrown talent and it would have been great for him to stay but I’m not going to bag him.

“Elliott’s been here since I’ve have – he debuted in 2009 and I arrived in 2010 – and since I’ve been at the Bulls he’s only got better.

“I’ve said before, too, he’ll go on to be a great England player.”

Clearly, Whitehead’s actions are an improvement on those of Craig Kopczak, another successful Bulls Academy product who upset plenty of his Bradford colleagues last summer.

Unbeknown to them, the Wales captain terminated his own contract and refused to play in their final game at Catalan, joining Huddersfield Giants soon after.

This latest disruption has not been ideal for Bradford’s plans as they head to a Saints side who will replace them in the top eight with victory.

Cummins’s side have won just one of their last six league games and were left disheartened after they let a winning position slip to lose 28-18 at play-off rivals Hull KR last Sunday.

“Injuries haven’t helped,” admitted L’Estrange with free-scoring Jarrod Sammut (dead leg) and hard-working forward Chev Walker (knee) the latest to succumb after that game at Craven Park.

“We’ve had those and the bit of stuff that has been going on behind the scenes but we have got to get on with it.

“We’ve been straying from our gameplan too much and what we need is a bit more patience.

“When things aren’t going well people have been tending to try to make things happen themselves instead of letting it come.

“Gameplans are there for a reason whether success comes in the first 10 minutes or the 50th. We have to stick to that.”

Their embattled opponents are nursing a miserable run themselves but L’Estrange, who yesterday earned a late call-up to the Exiles squad, said: “Saints are a great side with a great coaching staff.

“I’m sure they’ll come good and we have to make sure it’s not against us.

“We saw last week what happened at Hull KR. We played well and got in a good position but lost our patience and they got away from us. It’s important we get the two points at Saints, then have the week off with the England game to recharge our batteries before coming back flying for the last push.”

The ex-Manly Sea Eagles rake will be busy, though, having been drafted into Brian McClennan’s Exiles squad for Friday’s game against England at Warrington.

He is the only Bradford player to be involved on either side having also featured in the second International Origin game at Huddersfield last year.

“I was really pleased to get the call late on when Michael Monaghan pulled out,” said the 28-year-old, who will be aided for Bradford tomorrow with the return of fellow hooker Matt Diskin.

“I loved it last year and it was a great feeling to be able to represent my homeland when I’m so far away.

“Going up against the boys you play against each week but now in England colours is great too.

“I’ll go straight into camp at Warrington after the Saints match, spend the week there and then hopefully go up against them come Friday.”

Meanwhile, in Whitehead’s absence, 18-year-old back-row Oliver Roberts has been named in Bradford’s 19-man squad for the first time.

L’Estrange said: “Ollie’s been playing well in the lower grades and represented England Academy over in France last week.

“It’s great to see him involved and I’m looking forward to hopefully playing alongside him now.”

Second-row John Bateman is fit after shrugging off a dead leg suffered at Craven Park while on-loan Huddersfield Giants prop Jacob Fairbank returns from injury.