Smith 'bullish' about promotion chances despite defeat to Leigh

ROHAN Smith was asked moments after the final hooter whether the previous 80 minutes had encouraged him that Bradford were capable of winning promotion.

The Bulls head coach looked his inquisitor in the eye and gave a short, sharp reply.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think we could get promoted,” said Smith with utter conviction.

The 35-year-old Australian recently quit his job as Gold Coast Titans assistant coach to move his family to the other side of the world and take the reins at Odsal.

It was some leap of faith, but Smith wants to revive a slumbering giant and return the Bulls to their rightful place at rugby league’s top table.

It is upon such desire and ambition that Bradford’s Super League challenge will be founded in these coming weeks.

Certainly there is a sense of calm and focus to Smith’s approach.

On Saturday evening, he conjured arguably the Bulls’ most complete performance of the season, only for a late try from the outstanding Micky Higham to hand Leigh victory.

It felt cruel but these two sides just bring out the best in each other.

They have met five times since February 2015 and have scored 144 points apiece during that sequence.

Leigh have won twice, Bradford once, and there have been two draws, but it felt like this one had got away from the Bulls.

Tries from Danny Williams and Mitch Clark put Smith’s men 10-0 up inside the opening 10 minutes.

Leigh hit back to level matters at the break before Adam Higson’s try put them ahead for the first time in the 43rd minute.

Bradford, overflowing with spirit and energy, hit back with scores from Adam O’Brien and Danny Addy to lead 20-18 with just five minutes remaining.

Then Higham struck with two minutes remaining to leave Smith, his players and around 3,000 Bulls supporters devastated.

Smith said: “I’m hurting and I’ve only been here for two weeks, so I can only imagine how the boys are feeling in there.

“But I’m very proud of their efforts because we performed well and I don’t think the final score is maybe a true indication of the game.

“Both teams put on a good show and the spectacle was great for the fans and for TV.

“From my point of view, it was awesome to be here to have the two sets of fans going at each other and the players in the middle rising to the occasion.

“I’m only concerned with us trying to improve each week and we certainly showed some signs of improvement in some areas.

“We’ve got plenty to work on, that’s for sure, but the effort, the intent and resilience we showed when Leigh were on the front foot meant we fought back hard and got the momentum going back our way.

“I can’t be any more appreciative of the boys’ efforts and as long as we have that each week, then we have something to build on.”

Once again, it looked and felt like a Super League contest, on the field and in the stands.

A huge army of Bulls fans marched to Bloomfield Road with almost religious zeal and gave their team outstanding vocal support.

There were also a large turn-out of Leigh supporters at the opposite end of the ground and the match turned out to be a classic.

Eyebrows were raised by the inclusion of Richie Mathers in the halves alongside Oscar Thomas, while Addy began at hooker and O’Brien started on the bench.

But Mathers, making his first appearance since Easter Monday after recovering from a back injury, was a promising stand-off as a junior.

It was only the emergence of a certain Danny McGuire which saw him moved to full back.

Mathers brought calming influence and vocal presence to the Bulls side and certainly did not look out of place in the halves.

“The main thing we wanted from Richie was to provide that calming influence and talk in the right way when it was needed,” reasoned Smith.

“I could see from the stands that he was taking charge and, while our attack certainly wasn’t smooth, he had a calming influence and I thought he competed really hard.

“That was what I wanted him to focus on – being a competitor just as he was at full back in his heyday but in a new position.”

After Lee Smith knocked on from Josh Drinkwater’s pass, Bradford – resplendent in their Summer Bash jersey which supports the OddBalls Foundation to raise awareness and money in the fight against testicular cancer – seized control.

Mathers was involved in a fine handling sequence which saw the ball moved out to James Clare and he sent Williams over in the right corner.

Four minutes later, Bradford struck again when the indomitable Clark grounded a clever kick from Addy and the try was awarded despite suspicions he was offside.

Clark was outstanding once again and Smith said of the young prop: “I’ve known Mitch for four or five years and there is no button that says ‘slow down’ with him. He’s always looking to do more and is extremely courageous.

“He doesn’t do it for the crowd to clap him but to inspire his team-mates. That’s a really credible thing.”

Starting Addy at hooker helped Bradford to establish their 10-0 lead.

Smith said: “Addy has a lot of skill and it was part of the plan to have a bigger body on there at nine early in the game to combat Leigh’s size in the middle.

“When Danny gets the ball in his hands, good things happen.”

Yet Leigh began to probe and an exquisite long pass from Drinkwater, a key figure at scrum half for Leigh, sent Liam Kay over in the left corner in the 16th minute.

Clark was then help up before Dale Ferguson also went close before a 40-20 from Ben Reynolds, who dovetailed effectively alongside Drinkwater, gave Leigh another opportunity to exert pressure on the Bulls’ line which came to nothing.

Three minutes before the break, Drinkwater squeezed over the line from close range and Reynolds’ first conversion made it 10-10 at the break.

It got even better for Neil Jukes’ side within three minutes of the restart as Higson produced a superb acrobatic finish in the corner to score from Drinkwater’s long pass.

Reynolds kicked the extras from the touchline and also added a penalty soon after to give Leigh an 18-10 lead.

But Bradford roused themselves in quite spectacular fashion when O’Brien showed all his usual tenacity to scarper over the line from dummy half in the 57th minute.

Matty Blythe then touched down from a kick to the right corner but the video referee deemed there had been a knock-on.

Nevertheless, Addy took centre stage once again with five minutes remaining when he dived over from acting half and Thomas’ kick made it 20-18 to Bradford.

In the 78th minute, referee Sam Ansell, a Bradford lad who enjoyed a fine game, awarded a penalty to Leigh and they quickly tore upfield where Higham dived onto a kick from Drinkwater to settle the match.

Attendance: 9,521