7:40am Saturday 4th July 2009
By Bill Marshall
Countdowns usually start at ten, and that’s certainly the case for Bradford Bulls tomorrow.
After the visit of Castleford Tigers, there will only be a single-digit number of games left for the Bulls to begin their hoped-for climb from their current position of 12th into the top eight.
And Bulls head coach Steve McNamara believes team spirit can be a vital factor in propelling them towards the play-offs.
He said: “The coaches and myself try and create a good working environment which we hope nurtures progress and enjoyment, and a whole host of other things. They are a good bunch of players and they obviously get on very well together.
“That will help us over the final ten games of the regular season when matches are in the balance.”
Bulls skipper Paul Deacon, who is in his 11th season at the club, agreed, saying: “I have played in some teams with great team spirit, and this is no worse than any of them.”
McNamara added: “It is a vital part of the season for any successful team, and our team must be successful but there is still a long way to go.
“We certainly aren’t feeling sorry for ourselves. In our last four performances, since the second half of the season started, we have played a whole lot better.
“We have two wins and two losses but even in the games we lost – against arguably the best two teams in the competition – we showed that we can certainly compete.
“We had opportunities in both games to win them, so we are little bit annoyed we didn’t do better in those games.”
“We are confident we can beat any side in the competition but we haven’t proved it on enough occasions this season.
“It’s about putting all the bits together during a game and doing it every week.
“We have shown in the past four games that we can play well but, with ten games left, we need that kind of consistency every week.
“The players want to improve all the time and they just want to get out there, go a step further and make sure we get the two points.”
Julien Rinaldi misses out for the Bulls with a foot injury and Elliott Whitehead is out with an ankle injury but Wayne Godwin returns after one Reserve Grade match following 15 weeks out with a broken leg.
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