Bradford Bulls stand-off Sammut waiting in wings for derby return (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Bradford Bulls stand-off Sammut waiting in wings for derby return

7:00am Friday 20th July 2012 in Bulls By Ross Heppenstall, Bradford Bulls Reporter

Jarrod Sammut is happy to have given Bulls coach Mick Potter another headache with his return to fitness.

The Australian stand-off is available again after missing the win over London Broncos with a knee injury sustained during the victory at Wigan a week previously.

After a run of three straight victories, and having firmly established themselves as Potter’s first-choice half-back pairing, Ben Jeffries and Luke Gale are set to continue in tandem again at Leeds tonight.

Sammut has no problem with that but he is waiting in the wings and has already played a key role at times this term.

He said: “Benny and Galey are performing and we’re getting results, so you cannot say that it’s not working.

“They’ve earned the right to keep playing. I’ve either got to bide my time or slip in somewhere else.

“I guess that’s a headache for the coach, not for me.”

Sammut’s injury-enforced absence against London was only a minor setback compared to his previous spell on the sidelines.

The former Penrith man, signed from Crusaders on a one-year deal during the winter, had picked up a more serious knee injury at Widnes on Easter Monday.

It sidelined him for two and a half months, but he was in the starting line-up on Good Friday when the Bulls beat Leeds in front of over 20,000 fans.

That, and the recent victory at Wigan, remain major highlights for Sammut during a fraught debut campaign at Odsal .

He recalled: “Obviously coming to Bradford, there was a lot of talk about the rivalry with Leeds.

“Back home in Australia, we’ve got something similar between Penrith and Parramatta.

“I understood that Bradford and Leeds was big, but when I’d actually played in that game at Easter and experienced the atmosphere, I realised how big.

“Everyone had blood all their over their face, there was mud everywhere!

“To get the win at home was an experience that is up there with the best of them.

“The lads really gelled together and put everything into that game.

“It was a similar buzz recently to beat Wigan at their place, especially with the situation the club was in.

“Wigan away was one of those nights that you will never forget.

“Myself and the rest of the lads just wanted to stay on the pitch celebrating with the fans at the end.

“That Leeds game was pretty much on par with the Wigan victory.

“Both were significant wins at different times when the club needed the victory.”

The Bulls squad face a nervous wait on the outcome of talks between administrator Brendan Guilfoyle, the RFL and the ABC consortium, who tabled a bid to buy the club yesterday.

Sammut, who experienced the pain of administration at the Wrexham-based Crusaders last year, is focused solely on rugby matters.

“Obviously everyone would like to get paid and keep their job,” he said.

“We’re still here doing our job and coming into training every day and preparing to play every week.

“But we’re not just going out on the field – we’re going out there to win.

“The rest of the competition know that we’re not going to roll over. Despite the points deduction, we want to make the play-offs.”