Play misty for me!

With Odsal shrouded in a stupidly dense fog last night, it was hard to decipher what was going on.

Never mind who made that pass for Lesley Vainikolo, or who kicked the ball to Marcus Bai, has someone actually scored out there?

In the press box, we were relying on an equally blinded tannoy announcer and the delayed reactions of fans the other side of the ground to let us know if the line had been crossed again.

It was like watching a game with your eyes shut. I'm getting the disclaimers in early.

One thing is certain amid the crazy mist. The Bulls definitely won - and also, crisis-torn Wigan are bottom of the pile for the first time in more than 100 years.

So much for summer rugby! It's not been the sunniest start to Super League XI but the

competition's chilled opening plumbed new depths last night as this farcical match proved a genuine throwback to the winter game.

Odsal has a reputation for being one of the harshest outposts. Legend has it the weather can be fine on the streets outside but step inside the Odsal Bowl and dark, sinister patterns can instantly appear as the ground boasts its very own micro-climate.

When such myths are mentioned in the future, people will talk about last night's fixture as another prime example.

The fog was pretty bad at the start. It grew steadily worse as the game went on and into the second half visibility became embarrassing.

Wigan supporters struck up choruses of "Off, off, off" as early as the eighth minute, by which point Ben Harris's try, converted by Iestyn Harris, had put the Bulls 12-0 up.

They weren't calling for a red card. They realised getting the match abandoned was the best way of avoiding their sixth defeat in seven games and falling to the foot of Super League for the first time in their illustrious history.

However, there would be no such let-off. As is so often the case, referee Ronnie Laughton was officiating a different match to everyone else. He could see fine and so the game went on.

A match has to have run 60 minutes for a result to stand after abandonment so the visitors clung on to the hope Laughton would pack in before then - but he didn't.

The Bulls mastered the conditions best, ran in seven tries and so the Wigan fans reverted to chants of "We want our money back". They had a point.

Conditions were so bad that those supporters stood behind the posts didn't even realise their side had scored at the other end on 17 minutes.

It finally dawned on them when their players started emerging together back towards them out of the fog on halfway swigging water from bottles and up went a delayed cheer just as the tannoy announcer also cottoned on.

Skipper Sean O'Loughlin got that touchdown but Wigan would not trouble the Bulls line again for over 50 minutes as their season goes from bad to worse.

It was the first time in 21 years the world's most famous club had lost four successive matches - and the last time they lost six from seven games they suffered relegation back in 1980. The only other instance the Cherry and Whites have sat bottom was in 1898.

With four key forwards missing through injury, Ian Millward had raided two panic buys in Tom Jonkers and Oliver Wilkes in time to face the Bulls but they couldn't prevent the slide as the fog further clouded Wigan's season.

Bradford, on the other hand, put behind them that disappointment of losing at Saints last Friday by delivering a remarkably well-disciplined and well-controlled display.

Given the conditions, the champions had ample excuses for sloppiness but they didn't make a handling error until after the half-hour mark and got back to doing the basics right.

Save for a couple of Micky Higham darts, they never looked like being opened up down the

middle and with ball in hand, led by a powerful Andy Lynch and with Iestyn Harris his usual commanding self, they stuck to a simple but effective game plan.

Karl Pryce and Shontayne Hape added tries to those by Lynch and Ben Harris to leave the Bulls coasting 20-6 at the break.

Paul Deacon was missing due to an infection in his facial injury but Stanley Gene stepped in for his first start and proved solid at scrum half.

At the other end of the spectrum, 19-year-old second row Matt Cook also got his first crack from the off and he proved worthy of that commitment, while Hape delivered another impressive performance in the left centre.

Straight from the restart, Pryce rampaged through centre field to set up the position for Harris to kick wide, Bai benefiting.

The stand-off then put Chris McKenna over for his first Bulls try after the Wigan defence shot up on the last tackle.

The visitors managed to race clear from deep in their own half to get their second try, Brett Dallas doing the speedwork before handing over to Pat Richards, but it did not signal any comeback.

After slick approach work from Jamie Langley, Vainikolo was left with just the waif-like Mark Calderwood in front of him and that was no match for the 19-stone Tongan.

A job well done by the Bulls. It's just a pity

no-one really saw it, although those desperate Wigan fans are probably glad they didn't.

If the Warriors lose at Wakefield in the Challenge Cup next week, a season full of so much promise will be over before Easter has even reached us.

Bradford are very much in the mix even though we are still yet to see - and I'm not blaming the fog now - the best from them.