Langley: We were all to blame (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Langley: We were all to blame

7:10am Tuesday 3rd June 2008

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Dejected stand-in skipper Jamie Langley says every Bulls player has accepted responsibility for their horror Carnegie Challenge Cup exit.

He described being "absol-utely devastated" after they meekly surrendered at home to struggling Hull on Sunday.

The inquest into the quarter-final shocker began yesterday and the gutted second-rower concedes: "It was plain to see what went wrong.

"It was a case of doing our job as players and we didn't do that.

"We watched the footage and no one can escape. Everyone held their hand up and we all did stuff out there against Hull that we shouldn't.

"We know the players here are good enough and we have faith in everything the coaching staff are putting in place for us but we've disappointed them again, and the fans, with that performance.

"To be honest, I'm absolutely devastated and it's going to hurt even more when the semis and final come around as we know we could be there ourselves.

"All the players feel the same - massively gutted - and we have to turn it around and get rid of this inconsistency.

"We need to repay them with much better performances in Super League, start focusing, doing the little things right, take the right decisions and also make some sacrifices away from rugby. Generally though there's been enough talking. There can't be any more excuses and we have to bounce back."

Error-ridden Bulls squandered possession regularly to go down 22-16 and have now lost three out of their last five games.

Long-serving Langley, 24, should have been celebrating after proudly leading Bradford out for the first time ever.

With skipper Paul Deacon and Glenn Morrison both crocked, he took charge in what was his 139th Bulls match and admitted: "It came in unfortunate circumstances and we finished with the wrong result.

"Captaining the Bulls is a great honour but at the end of the day we've got a team full of leaders."

He did get through a mountain of work along with hooker Terry Newton to try and fire his side but the Challenge Cup is now out of reach for a fifth successive year.

Fifth-placed Bradford must swiftly redouble their Super League effort with Catalans visiting Odsal on Sunday.

Dragons ace Adam Mogg is likely to feature but the star centre won't be playing there in Bulls colours next season.

They were believed to be trying to persuade the Aussie to switch allegiances but he has now turned down the Bulls, Wigan and a massive offer from French rugby union to sign a new three-year contract staying in Perpignan.

• In last night's draw for the semi-finals of the Carnegie Challenge Cup, big-guns Leeds and St Helens were drawn against each other, leaving surprise semi-finalists Wakefield and Hull FC to fight it out for a place at Wembley on August 30.

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