Bulls almost 'cash in' as Great Dane gives Robins a fright

by Ross Heppenstall, at Bloomfield Road

WHAT price do you put on staying in the Championship and avoiding relegation to League One?

If the Bulls can defy the odds and complete the Great Escape, the £10,000 they spent to bring Dane Chisholm back to Odsal will be worth every penny.

That is the figure they are believed to have paid to secure Chisholm’s services from Sheffield Eagles and bring back to Odsal.

The enigmatic Aussie was desperate to sign when a new Bradford club was reformed in January but was told he was not wanted when he contacted management for an answer on his future.

It was a baffling decision on a player who become a hugely popular figure after being signed by Rohan Smith towards the end of last season.

Four months on from being snubbed, and with Leon Pryce having retired, the door has opened for Chisholm to return.

“He’s coming home, he’s coming home, he’s coming, Chisholm’s coming home,” sang the 2,500 Bulls supporters at Bloomfield Road on Saturday night.

And what a return it was.

Chisholm was all things to Bradford in a rain-soaked encounter; captain, leader, creator, try-scorer.

In short, he was the Bulls’ inspiration.

Still, it was not enough to secure a famous victory against a club who he enjoyed a successful short spell towards the end of the 2015 campaign.

Perhaps if Chisholm had not sustained a knee injury which forced him off in the final quarter then Bradford might have prevailed.

Instead, they fell to a sixth straight defeat and left them on minus two points at the bottom of the Championship.

Yet Bradford went toe to toe with leaders Hull KR during a tight, tense and utterly absorbing contest which could easily have gone either way.

It is to be hoped that Chisholm’s injury is not serious ahead of Sunday’s crunch trip to relegation rivals Dewsbury.

Interim head coach Leigh Beattie said: “Dane plays off the cuff and brings another dimension to us.

“He can steady the ship as well because he’s got plenty of talent, but it wasn’t just about Dane.

“Every one of those blokes had spoken all week about having a right good go at Hull KR and that’s what we did.

“He’s got a bang on his knee but Joe Keyes came on and did a great job. We will assess Dane, but hopefully the injury isn’t serious and he will be available this weekend.”

Following the Bulls’ third administration in five years and subsequent liquidation, Chisholm faced an uncertain future.

At the time, he took to social media to describe the “absolutely appalling” treatment by the club’s management over a lack of communications during the administration process.

Asked about why Chisholm had not been handed a deal at the start of the season when a new club was formed, Beattie said: “I’m not too sure what that was all about.

“That was tough at the start of the year, but those circumstances have gone now.”

After disappointing crowds for the three earlier games on day one of the Summer Bash, supporters of Hull KR and Bradford did their clubs proud.

The Robins were backed by around 4,000 fans but, inspired by the inclusion of Chisholm alongside Leeds loanee Jordan Lilley, the Bulls made a dream start.

James Bentley pounced on a clever grubber kick from Chisholm to score inside the second minute and Oscar Thomas added the extras to make it 6-0.

The Bulls continued their fast start with forwards Jon Magrin, Colton Roche and Ross Peltier all making their mark with some strong carries up front.

Handling conditions were difficult as the rain fell but Rovers gradually steadied themselves and they replied in the 18th minute when centre Andrew Heffernan collected Jamie Ellis’ pass and touched down inside the right channel.

Ellis converted for 6-6 but the Bulls continued to give Rovers plenty to think about thanks to Lilley’s thoughtful kicking game and Chisholm’s energy and movement alongside him.

Chisholm took a pass from Scott Moore and landed a drop-goal before Ellis booted a penalty to make it 8-7 to Rovers at the break.

After the break, Moore went close from dummy half before Chisholm scored a brilliant try in the 54th minute, intercepting Maurice Blair’s errant offload and racing 90 metres down the left flank for a brilliant individual effort.

Thomas converted for 13-10 but four minutes later, a lovely chip by Jordan Abdull was fumbled by Thomas in the right corner before Bradford were caught offside.

From the resulting penalty, the Red and Whites turned the screw on the Bulls’ defence.

A smart pass put Nick Scruton into a gap and the former Bradford prop was able to offload the ball to Blair, who found Heffernan in space and he powered in at the right corner for his second.

Chisholm, again, proved a thorn in Rovers’ side when intercepting a pass from Lunt only to be halted 20 metres short of the line by Abdull, sustaining a knee injury with play stopped for numerous minutes.

Eventually the Bulls skipper was replaced by Joe Keyes and, with eight minutes remaining, Abdull put Rovers back in front when he showed impressive strength to twist and turn his way over the line.

Ellis converted for 20-13 before Bradford set up a grandstand finish when Ethan Ryan dived on a short grubber to score a try which Thomas converted to reduce Rovers’ lead to one point.

They held on and head coach Tim Sheens said: “We expect dropped ball on contact on days like today, but I thought we handled it reasonably well.

“We were under the pump for a while with them going in front early on.

“Overall our defence was pretty strong, particularly our goal line defence, and our fitness shone through in the end as we ground out a tough two points.”