Exclusive first interview with Matt Orford (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Cant wait to see him in action, hope that he gets his clearance through quickly so that he can start training with his new team mates and hopefully start to gell with them in good time for season, Good to see he is keeping up his training in the mean while.
i had a chuckle at this though - “It took me a while to comprehend the whole thing. But there were a lot of positives that came up that made me excited about the move." hmm about 840,000 positives i would think!! COYB!!

What amuses me the most is that Macca has a couple of lines at the end of this report where he actually seems to acknowledge that the Bulls have signed the Ox. It is the first word on the subject from the club as far as I'm aware, all other reports have come through the media via Manly. They never change!.

Great signing!!!
i am a bit worried about the age of Orford but we were all worried about Menzies when he came but look how quick he was last season.
looking at his record on wikepedia it looks like we have got our selves a great addition for 2010.
i hope he can do what trent barrett did for Wigan. apart from the wanting to go home part lol

haitch wrote:
What amuses me the most is that Macca has a couple of lines at the end of this report where he actually seems to acknowledge that the Bulls have signed the Ox. It is the first word on the subject from the club as far as I'm aware, all other reports have come through the media via Manly. They never change!.

Sometimes Haitch you can be so sensible and at others you talk rubbish. There is a post on the club's website, Steve McNamara was on Radio Leeds, Radio 5 and Pulse talking about it. It was sent out on a Enews, which I received both at work and at home and the club sent a Media Release about it yesterday morning. Yes some of the talk was from Manly but that's because they released it forst but to say the Bulls have done nothing is crass stupidity and is just another attempt to knock the club and, particulalry, McNamara.

Reading Bullette wrote:

haitch wrote: What amuses me the most is that Macca has a couple of lines at the end of this report where he actually seems to acknowledge that the Bulls have signed the Ox. It is the first word on the subject from the club as far as I'm aware, all other reports have come through the media via Manly. They never change!.

Sometimes Haitch you can be so sensible and at others you talk rubbish. There is a post on the club's website, Steve McNamara was on Radio Leeds, Radio 5 and Pulse talking about it. It was sent out on a Enews, which I received both at work and at home and the club sent a Media Release about it yesterday morning. Yes some of the talk was from Manly but that's because they released it forst but to say the Bulls have done nothing is crass stupidity and is just another attempt to knock the club and, particulalry, McNamara.

Touchy!!

Reading Bullette...It's a bit rich coming from you when you accuse others of talking rubbish. Have you heard yourself. If you have a problem reading, that's fine, we understand but I did say "as far as I'm aware" and secondly if you had half a brain you would see that I was referring to comments made in the TELEGRAPH & ARGUS. If you must level insults at people get your facts right. This is not the first time you have done this on here. The T&A have not carried a comment from the BFD Bulls Board AS FAR AS I'M AWARE.

For those of you still worrying about Orfords age, spare a thought for Shaun Long and Kieran Cunningham who were the same age as Orford TWO YEARS AGO!!
Adrian Morley and Jamie Peacock both played for England and are a year OLDER than Orford. If you want another example, how about Big Les?? SAME AGE!!. There are so many others...look em up and surprise yourselves!.

I think Haitch has touched on something with his earlier comment about T&A coverage.

As the local media outlet, the T&A does a terrible job of getting any exclusive news out of Odsal - they are in a position to beat the national media to many stories yet seem to fail time and time again. When stories have broken, they should be getting more exclusive content, but they don't. Why no interview with Deacon for example?

Instead we are expected to read stories that are cobbled together from press releases, rather than proper journalism.

The poor relationship may be the fault of either party, but whoever is responsible it sadly provides a disservice to T&A reading Bulls supporters.

haitch wrote:
For those of you still worrying about Orfords age, spare a thought for Shaun Long and Kieran Cunningham who were the same age as Orford TWO YEARS AGO!! Adrian Morley and Jamie Peacock both played for England and are a year OLDER than Orford. If you want another example, how about Big Les?? SAME AGE!!. There are so many others...look em up and surprise yourselves!.

yes look at the list. just how many of these players would you go out and sign tomorrow looking to the future of the team.

haitch wrote:
Reading Bullette...It's a bit rich coming from you when you accuse others of talking rubbish. Have you heard yourself. If you have a problem reading, that's fine, we understand but I did say "as far as I'm aware" and secondly if you had half a brain you would see that I was referring to comments made in the TELEGRAPH & ARGUS. If you must level insults at people get your facts right. This is not the first time you have done this on here. The T&A have not carried a comment from the BFD Bulls Board AS FAR AS I'M AWARE.

Hi

I apologise unreservedly.

franklyn wrote:

haitch wrote: For those of you still worrying about Orfords age, spare a thought for Shaun Long and Kieran Cunningham who were the same age as Orford TWO YEARS AGO!! Adrian Morley and Jamie Peacock both played for England and are a year OLDER than Orford. If you want another example, how about Big Les?? SAME AGE!!. There are so many others...look em up and surprise yourselves!.

yes look at the list. just how many of these players would you go out and sign tomorrow looking to the future of the team.

Big Les would be massive as a crowd puller The 2 Saints guys are now long in the tooth but are 2 years Older than Ox and Peacock/Morley are still massive at their respective clubs and could walk into any side. These guys are the mentors for the young kids and a blend of experience and youth works well in any walk of life.

Yes they can be part of the future, but only in the sense they will give the kids a push in the right direction until they too have the experience to take over.

Reading Bullette wrote:

haitch wrote: Reading Bullette...It's a bit rich coming from you when you accuse others of talking rubbish. Have you heard yourself. If you have a problem reading, that's fine, we understand but I did say "as far as I'm aware" and secondly if you had half a brain you would see that I was referring to comments made in the TELEGRAPH & ARGUS. If you must level insults at people get your facts right. This is not the first time you have done this on here. The T&A have not carried a comment from the BFD Bulls Board AS FAR AS I'M AWARE.

Hi I apologise unreservedly.

RB I see they only announced today and you were one step ahead of me in that area. Forget it mate and apology accepted..Keep smiling.

monkeysmacker wrote:
I think Haitch has touched on something with his earlier comment about T&A coverage. As the local media outlet, the T&A does a terrible job of getting any exclusive news out of Odsal - they are in a position to beat the national media to many stories yet seem to fail time and time again. When stories have broken, they should be getting more exclusive content, but they don't. Why no interview with Deacon for example? Instead we are expected to read stories that are cobbled together from press releases, rather than proper journalism. The poor relationship may be the fault of either party, but whoever is responsible it sadly provides a disservice to T&A reading Bulls supporters.

Hi

If you look at the time of the release from Wigan you will see it is around 3.00pm. When would you expect the T & A to speak to Deacon. They already had their headlines for Today, Orford but I am sure they will speak to Deacon but they couldn't have done it yesterday as Wiagn didn't announce his signing till mid afternoon. Most fans would want to read about Orford and they will not have pages to talk abot the Bulls. But i would assume there will be something with Deacon later in the week. Remember it is Wigan's story, not Bradford's.

Why dont you give the team a chanse, yes they have signed some good, and some bad players, but lets see how they go next season b4 u sl*g them off!

monkeysmacker wrote:
I think Haitch has touched on something with his earlier comment about T&A coverage.

As the local media outlet, the T&A does a terrible job of getting any exclusive news out of Odsal - they are in a position to beat the national media to many stories yet seem to fail time and time again. When stories have broken, they should be getting more exclusive content, but they don't. Why no interview with Deacon for example?

Instead we are expected to read stories that are cobbled together from press releases, rather than proper journalism.

The poor relationship may be the fault of either party, but whoever is responsible it sadly provides a disservice to T&A reading Bulls supporters.

Slightly harsh/pointless comment considering it's made at the end of an exclusive interview with the club's new signing, which obviously would've taken some effort as the guy's still in Oz!

No other media source seems to have spoken to the guy directly. In fact, all comments elsewhere are from a statement released by Manly.

Reading Bullette wrote:

monkeysmacker wrote:
I think Haitch has touched on something with his earlier comment about T&A coverage. As the local media outlet, the T&A does a terrible job of getting any exclusive news out of Odsal - they are in a position to beat the national media to many stories yet seem to fail time and time again. When stories have broken, they should be getting more exclusive content, but they don't. Why no interview with Deacon for example? Instead we are expected to read stories that are cobbled together from press releases, rather than proper journalism. The poor relationship may be the fault of either party, but whoever is responsible it sadly provides a disservice to T&A reading Bulls supporters.

Hi

If you look at the time of the release from Wigan you will see it is around 3.00pm. When would you expect the T & A to speak to Deacon. They already had their headlines for Today, Orford but I am sure they will speak to Deacon but they couldn't have done it yesterday as Wiagn didn't announce his signing till mid afternoon. Most fans would want to read about Orford and they will not have pages to talk abot the Bulls. But i would assume there will be something with Deacon later in the week. Remember it is Wigan's story, not Bradford's.

Hi,

My criticism of the T&A coverage isn't solely linked to this particular story - it's an ongoing problem. Perhaps the departure of Deacon is a poor example - you are right, this is mainly a Wigan story.

However there are other examples over the years of quite major stories being broken in the national media, but without a mention on the T&A website. In fact many of these stories have been discussed in the "Yoursay" forum before they've even been covered by the T&A.

I accept that the printed version of the paper has deadlines, but news can still be carried on the website. Even if it is just in the form of a blog (as The Times have done with Chris Irvine).

As I said before, I am not sure who is responsible, but the T&A's coverage of the Bulls could and should be much better than it is.

Vicar in a tutu wrote:

monkeysmacker wrote:
I think Haitch has touched on something with his earlier comment about T&A coverage.

As the local media outlet, the T&A does a terrible job of getting any exclusive news out of Odsal - they are in a position to beat the national media to many stories yet seem to fail time and time again. When stories have broken, they should be getting more exclusive content, but they don't. Why no interview with Deacon for example?

Instead we are expected to read stories that are cobbled together from press releases, rather than proper journalism.

The poor relationship may be the fault of either party, but whoever is responsible it sadly provides a disservice to T&A reading Bulls supporters.

Slightly harsh/pointless comment considering it's made at the end of an exclusive interview with the club's new signing, which obviously would've taken some effort as the guy's still in Oz!

No other media source seems to have spoken to the guy directly. In fact, all comments elsewhere are from a statement released by Manly.

Yes it's quite difficult speaking to people in Australia. Of course there is the telephone...

Yes it's an in depth interview. All five sentences.

Matt Orford's move to Bradford could be in doubt after former Gold Coast winger Chris Walker revealed he is taking action against the English Super League club signing the Manly captain.

Orford, who announced last week he is leaving Manly to take up a lucrative contract in the UK, could be forced to stay in Australia after it emerged Bradford decided against signing Walker so they could secure the services of the 2008 Dally M Medal winner.

Prior to Orford becoming available, Bradford had already filled their quota of five overseas players and Walker could be left in limbo after rejecting a new contract from the Titans to sign with Bradford in August.

The former Sydney Roosters and Queensland star's manager Chris Orr said he will be asking lawyers to lobby the English Rugby League to block Orford's move.

"We will be looking at all options and the players association will be looking at all options and until Chris Walker's situation is resolved I can't see how they can sign Matt Orford," Orr said.

"It sets a terrible precedence if clubs can stockpile contracts sat on their desk and pick and choose who they want to activate.

"There has got to be a duty of care."

.........im no lawyer but it sounds like walker has a valid point! Any1 got any idea what might happen? If we have to leave orford and get walker we wont have a SH so we will be royaly screwed!

From Sydney Morning Herald:

THE validity of Matt Orford's move from Manly to English club Bradford has been thrown into serious doubt following claims the Bulls are trying to renege on a deal with another Australian player - Chris Walker - to make way for the Sea Eagles star.

Walker's manager, Chris Orr, attacked Bradford management last night, saying Walker had a deal with the club but that the Bulls were trying to squeeze him out because the signing of halfback Orford to a three-year deal took them over the limit of five imported players.

''I can't see how the RFL in England can go ahead and register Orford,'' Orr told the Herald. ''I've spoken to the RFL and the players' association over there. The players' association is very strong, it's linked to a union that has about six million members, and the association is going to act on Chris's behalf. I've engaged a lawyer as well. Chris will be acting as if he's going over there to play, so either the contract will be honoured or the club will come up with an appropriate alternative.''

Walker's deal is understood to be worth $400,000 over two years, and it is clear that if he doesn't end up playing for Bradford, he would expect a sizeable payout. The Gold Coast utility back hit out at the Bulls last night as well, telling Channel Nine: ''They haven't even had the decency to give me a call, so I'm a little bit filthy with the situation. No disrespect to him but I've got a contract with the Bradford Bulls that they should honour, and I expect them to honour, so at this point in time I'm heading over to play with them.''

Bradford had apparently not publicly announced the signing of Walker but Orr was adamant a deal had been struck. He said the first time he had an inkling there was a problem was when reports surfaced last week that the Bulls were chasing Orford.

''We negotiated in good faith,'' Orr said. ''We signed a letter of agreement in August and they issued a contract and we signed it and sent it back to them. I negotiated Brett Kearney to the club as well, and everything was done the same way. Chris had his wedding to organise, which has gone ahead now, and we were told by the club that there were no issues.

''Then the stories about Orford started coming out, and I rang the Bradford chairman . He said it was just speculation but on Monday it emerged that Orford had signed, and when I rang the club again they said they weren't proceeding with Chris. I told them there was an agreement in place. One month ago, Chris could have signed for the French club Catalans but we knocked it back because we had a letter of intent with Bradford.''