No bleak house for Bulls as crisis has made them tighter (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

No bleak house for Bradford Bulls as crisis has made them tighter

10:00am Saturday 4th August 2012 in Sport By Ross Heppenstall, Bradford Bulls Reporter

Jamie Langley insists there is no pressure on the Bulls to make the play-offs as they head into their last five games of the season.

The six-point penalty for entering administration dealt a hammer blow to Bradford’s hopes of claiming a play-off berth for the first time in four years.

But Langley reckons his side could yet defy the odds and squeeze into the top eight, particularly as they play the three sides directly above them in Hull KR, Huddersfield and Hull FC.

“There’s probably no pressure on us now; nobody is expecting anything after the points penalty,” said the long-serving loose forward as he prepares for tomorrow's visit of struggling Widnes.

“We’ve got five games left and the teams around us have got some tough games as well.

“We’ve just got to keep our heads down, continue working as a unit and see what happens.

“We’ve got Widnes this weekend and also the two Hull clubs at home, who on any given day are really good, strong sides.

“They’re not going to be easy games by any stretch of the imagination, but realistically they’re games we can win.

“We’re not putting any pressure on ourselves, though, and we’ll just take each game as it comes as we try and get in the eight. Stranger things have certainly happened.”

One side that have faltered badly in recent weeks are Huddersfield, who topped Super League earlier in the campaign but have now lost nine of their last ten league games to fall to seventh.

The Giants placed former Bulls prop Paul Anderson in charge and are facing a fight to stay in the play-off places.

Bradford’s visit to Huddersfield later this month could again prove a crucial fixture in the battle for a top-eight finish.

Langley added: “I think ‘Baloo’ will turn things round there and he will put the confidence back into the Huddersfield lads.

“I can see them turning it round and having quite a strong finish to the season.

“I think they’ve got quite a tough run-in, looking at the fixtures they’ve got, so it’s not going to be easy for them but it’s all about what we do.

“There is no pressure or expectation on us any more this season, I don’t think. Whatever we achieve the more surprising it’s going to be.”

Langley also paid tribute to coach Mick Potter and his staff for working without pay since being made redundant at the start of July.

“Mick has been great for us,” he said.

“It’s just a testament to the bloke and Franny Cummins and Lee St Hilaire have stuck by his side through thick and thin, right down to the physio and masseuse, Jamie Moseley and Andy Senior.

“They’ve been in the same boat as well; unsure of what’s going on but still coming in to work hard for the team and for the lads.

“It just says a lot about the club really. We are a really tight bunch and I think if anything this situation has galvanised us even more.

“As a group of lads, I think a lot of teams would have probably crumbled under these circumstances.

“But it’s brought us even tighter and we’ve played some of our best football.”