Bradford Bulls skipper Heath L'Estrange out to make critics eat their words

7:00am Thursday 23rd August 2012 in Bulls Photograph of the Author By Simon Parker, Bradford City Reporter

Heath L'Estrange leads his Bulls into battle against Hull FC next weekend looking to make it six wins in a row on home soil Heath L'Estrange leads his Bulls into battle against Hull FC next weekend looking to make it six wins in a row on home soil

Heath L’Estrange reckons “desperate” measures are powering the Bulls towards a top-eight finish.

Three straight wins have put them in pole position to make the play-offs for the first time since 2008.

The Bulls will clinch a berth with victories in their final two games of the regular season against Hull FC and Catalan.

Finishing in the play-offs would be an even more remarkable achievement since they were docked six points for going into administration.

L’Estrange, who has been in a rich vein of form, insists the desire to prove the critics wrong has been as strong a driving force as rewarding the long-suffering supporters.

The joint-captain and hooker said: “The boys have put in some outstanding effort because there’s a desperation to prove everybody wrong and give our fans something to cheer about.

“We trumped them with fans at Huddersfield. We probably had double their amount in the stands, which is unbelievable.

“But it’s not just because of what’s happened. The critics were putting us down from the start of the season saying we would come last.

“It’s something we have always wanted to do to show them and we’re even more desperate for it now after the six points were taken off.”

The Bulls face Hull FC a week on Saturday at Odsal , where they have not lost since being plunged into financial turmoil.

Since losing to Leeds in May, they have won five in a row on home soil. L’Estrange added: “We don’t think about that. We just go out and play to our game plan.

“You’ve seen in the last three or four weeks that we’ve become more desperate to win.

“Our halves have been amazing in the last few weeks and the forward pack deserve a mention because they fight it out for the whole 80 minutes.

“Myself and Disko (Matt Diskin ) praise them every time we go on a run. Everybody has really come together.

“It’s a little frustrating having this week off because we want to take that momentum into the Hull FC game. We’re fighting for our season.”

Comments(17)

BCFC LAD says...
8:05am Thu 23 Aug 12

Which critics are these ? Only person to criticise players on here is mumby.

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taurusthebull says...
8:26am Thu 23 Aug 12

BCFC LAD wrote:
Which critics are these ? Only person to criticise players on here is mumby.
Muppet!

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BCFC LAD says...
8:28am Thu 23 Aug 12

What ?

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mdn says...
8:49am Thu 23 Aug 12

We havent lost a game at odsal since april, not may as stated in article. The leeds game in may, whilst on fixture list as a home fixture, was the magic weekend game in manchester.

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BCFC LAD says...
8:51am Thu 23 Aug 12

The leeds game was your last ever at home how is this possible ?

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Mumby was the best says...
9:12am Thu 23 Aug 12

Stranger for me is one of our standout players. Typical Aussie comes over here not heard of and unheralded, gets his head down and gets on with it. His pace off the mark from acting half has put teams on the back foot. I can`t believe he has only got over the whitewash once this year! but I bet he`s contributed to countless tries.
He is the sort of player we need to hang onto if we survive in SL.

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matthewpr says...
9:12am Thu 23 Aug 12

BCFC LAD wrote:
The leeds game was your last ever at home how is this possible ?
Why do you comment on these posts when you have no idea of the game and no interest in RL?

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BCFC LAD says...
9:33am Thu 23 Aug 12

Only quoting what has been said previously, RL a bigger laughing stock than normal. The opposing teams giving you money to pay your players to beat them and possibly deny them a play off spot ? You could not write comedy like it.

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Van Bellen's Baby says...
9:53am Thu 23 Aug 12

BCFC LAD wrote:
Only quoting what has been said previously, RL a bigger laughing stock than normal. The opposing teams giving you money to pay your players to beat them and possibly deny them a play off spot ? You could not write comedy like it.
It is called basic human decency; something football could learn from.

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BCFC LAD says...
10:10am Thu 23 Aug 12

Ha dont point the finger at footy when you are in that position. Joke shop RL

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Hudzilla says...
12:03pm Thu 23 Aug 12

Just ignore the idots, they soon get bored.

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taurusthebull says...
12:56pm Thu 23 Aug 12

BCFC LAD wrote:
Ha dont point the finger at footy when you are in that position. Joke shop RL
I repeat

MUPPET!!

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Bacon Bantam says...
3:27pm Thu 23 Aug 12

Van Bellen's Baby wrote:
BCFC LAD wrote: Only quoting what has been said previously, RL a bigger laughing stock than normal. The opposing teams giving you money to pay your players to beat them and possibly deny them a play off spot ? You could not write comedy like it.
It is called basic human decency; something football could learn from.
You mean football who recently had 2 teams bidding to buy your club to help them out, and with one pulling out but leaving the door open to help them if one of the other bids isn't successful.
Is this the football we are talking about?

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vikksy says...
3:42pm Thu 23 Aug 12

BCFC, why don't you come up to Odsal and spout your mouth off.

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JAtkinson says...
5:31pm Thu 23 Aug 12

What's wrong with football fans? I know their game's boring but coming on other sports' comments pages to wind people up is pretty childish and silly. Also a shame it's people from our own city. BCAFC's had an alright start to the season - shouldn't they be off talking their own team up rather than talking others down? Sad.

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BCFC LAD says...
5:49pm Thu 23 Aug 12

vikksy wrote:
BCFC, why don't you come up to Odsal and spout your mouth off.
Is it still open ?

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oddshapedballs says...
8:46pm Sun 26 Aug 12

BCFC LAD wrote:
Only quoting what has been said previously, RL a bigger laughing stock than normal. The opposing teams giving you money to pay your players to beat them and possibly deny them a play off spot ? You could not write comedy like it.
Wrong. the rfl have been paying the players d1ck

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