GEORGE Flanagan admits Bulls were guilty of ‘falling in love’ with themselves against London Skolars.

Bradford were convincing 54-16 winners against their lowly visitors but coach John Kear was angry at some slack defence as his side conceded three tries in the league for the first time since the opening day of the season.

And Flanagan accepted that Bulls went off script at times in the second period.

The hooker said: “I think we fell in love with ourselves a bit coming off three or four good wins and that second half showed a bit as we were trying to throw the ball about too much and it’s something which we’ve not practised.

“We’ve played as individuals and not as a team so there is a lot to fix up going into the Newcastle clash (on Friday) as it is going to be tough ask to go up there and we will definitely need to be on our game as teams raise their game against us.

“We need to be a lot better this week.”

Ethan Ryan took the man of the match plaudits with four tries on his 22nd birthday and Flanagan said: “It was the icing on the cake for him. Ethan really stood out and was one of the best players on the pitch by far.”

But Flanagan admits the points conceded hurt despite a comfortable afternoon which saw the Bulls maintain top spot in League One.

He said: “Before the match we talked about sticking to the game plan and structures. We did do in patches but not for the full 80 minutes.

“I think in that second half it was a bit poor from us judging by the standards we have set this season.

“To say we have scored 54 points, it still feels a bit bitter that we have conceded 16.

“We want to be the best defensive team in the league and it is something we have taken massive pride in this year.

“Two of their tries were on our own goal line and so to concede those two soft scores was a bit disappointing.

“Fair play to London as they kept on going for the full 80 minutes.”