JIMMY Lowes branded his players “rubbish” and turned fire on himself and his staff after the Bulls stumbled to victory over Dewsbury.

The 22-18 success marked a 15th straight Championship win as the club celebrated the 20-year anniversary of rebranding from Bradford Northern to Bradford Bulls.

Yet Lowes was frank in his assessment of his side’s stuttering display against Glenn Morrison’s part-time outfit.

The head coach said: “I thought we were rubbish today – we were off our game.

“We conceded a poor try in the first half and again in the second half, which were things we had worked on stopping.

“I’m disappointed with how we played and the lads are as well. They are pretty down and disappointed even though we won. The only positive was the win.”

Lowes went a step further by suggesting his input as head coach had contributed to the Bulls’ shortcomings on the field.

He said: “None of us performed well today, including the staff, and there are no excuses because we got away with it.

“We’re part and parcel of the team – making substitutions, decisions throughout the game and what you say at half-time – and I’m part of that.

“I might not be able to physically go out and play anymore but I make the calls during the day as well.

“I’ve got to judge my own performance as well as the players’ performances.”

Lee Gaskell was missing but Jake Mullaney and Matty Blythe made their long-awaited comebacks from injury and came through unscathed.

Lowes said: “You’re always going to miss good players but we never had good enough field position to put someone like Lee Gaskell in a position to score.

“I don’t think that or the weather was a reason why we didn’t create or didn’t play well today.

“I thought we were poor and I’m not going to comment on Dewsbury – that’s for their head coach to do.

“They had a go at us at their place and in the games I’ve seen of them they have a go.”

The Bulls did not lead until the 67th minute and Rams boss Morrison was left devastated that his team’s outstanding display reaped no reward.

He said: “We’re gutted because we came here thinking we could get a win.

“We’ve got to take a lot of positives out of it but to put in so much hard work and not get the win was disappointing. We gifted them the win.”

* Bulls second-rower Lucas Walshaw has joined Dewsbury on a one-month loan after falling down the pecking order at Odsal.