Bulls 40, Hull KR 4

‘England’ is a word that won’t be found in the vocabulary at Odsal.

Following a week dominated by talk of the national team, the Bulls quickly switched focus back onto the pitch.

All discussion of Steve McNamara’s decision to become England head coach was banned at the club’s weekly press day and the Bradford boss dismissed questioning along a similar line after the game.

The message was clear – it’s back to business.

In one of their most impressive displays yet, the Bulls ran in six tries and provided firm evidence that McNamara’s impending departure will not derail their promising campaign.

He may be headed out of the exit door at the end of the season but until then, club comes before country.

Methodically dismantling a poor Rovers side, the Bulls looked more polished than at any other point this season, with Matt Orford right at the centre of everything.

The Aussie scrum half provided a textbook example of how a playmaker should run his team, guiding them round the pitch with authority and leading them through gaps in the defence.

But the Bulls’ performance was full of stars, especially up front, and perhaps most encouraging was the sight of James Donaldson making his first start for the club alongside fellow academy product Elliott Whitehead in the second row.

The pair continue to grow in stature and are representative of the Bulls’ own development and improvement, as they discover exactly what they are capable of as a unit.

Quickly finding a decent rhythm in attack, the Bulls dominated early possession and looked dangerous with it.

Paul Sykes looked to have found a way through when he sold a clever dummy and darted through a gap, only to be penalised for crossing.

But Rovers could find no path out of their own half and their precarious position soon became critical when Scott Murrell was pinged for dumping Orford in the tackle.

Quickly spreading play, Bradford probed at the visitors’ defence out wide, Dave Halley narrowly denied a chance to score, but the eventual opening came right through the middle.

Andy Lynch was the man who took advantage, handing off one tackler and powering through another before reaching out to score as he landed on his back. Orford was never going to make a mistake with the kick right in front of the posts.

Try number two did not take long in coming either. Only four minutes later, the Bulls carved out another devastating opening, Whitehead taking a pass from Heath L’Estrange and going right through Clint Newton’s tackle to break from 30 metres.

The young second-rower had support on both sides but did not need it, instead sending Shaun Briscoe completely the wrong way with a dummy to canter over the line. Orford converted to provide a 12-point lead.

There was the odd moment of concern, Rovers’ best chances unsurprisingly coming from kicks.

Orford had to react to usher a testing chip from Michael Dobson out of bounds, while Kris Welham slightly overhit his grubber into the in-goal as numbers had begun to gather out wide.

Having stood up well to those challenges, the Bulls could easily have scored again off a stunning piece of play by Paul Sykes.

Taking a pass on the Hull ten-metre line, he caught and passed in an instant to send Brett Kearney slashing towards the line, yet his inside ball was cruelly judged forward.

Sensing they were losing the battle down the middle, Rovers attempted to up the intensity and physicality and a high shot on Kearney did plenty to wind up the home fans, especially as it went unpunished.

But the Bulls, especially Lynch and Nick Scruton, responded in kind, making every single tackle count as they thumped into contact with venom.

Chances presented themselves in the lead-up to the break but the spark that had made Bradford so devastating in the opening stages dimmed somewhat and they made hard work of finding the final play to turn possession into points.

Orford almost provided it with a neat set move from a scrum on the 30-metre mark, chipping over the top into space right in front of the Rovers try-line.

To his credit, Briscoe was aware and made it back just in time to smother the ball as Michael Platt gave chase.

A drop-goal attempt from Orford went wide and the Bulls enjoyed a lucky escape to keep their lead intact heading into half-time.

Running the ball out of his own end, Kearney cut across the line and threw a wayward pass out of bounds, yet the scrum was given his way, the ball apparently coming off a Hull player.

But Orford did get the Bulls quickly off the mark in the second half, opting to kick for goal from almost 40 metres after Rhys Lovegrove was penalised for ripping the ball. His kick was full and true, dropping nicely over the bar to make it 14-0.

Frustratingly, three consecutive penalties gave Rovers the chance for an immediate reply but encouragingly, Bradford continually slammed the door firmly shut, Halley doing well to tackle Peter Fox into touch.

The visitors’ brinkmanship in defence meant penalties were rarely slow in coming and, after escaping their own end, Orford gratefully accepted another such opening to add two more points.

It looked like the visitors had little to no chance of a comeback and any doubt was completely eradicated by a trio of quick-fire tries.

The first came after a break from Mike Worrincy, the second-rower bursting onto a pass from L’Estrange and darting into space.

Sheriffe was in support on the overlap and pinned his ears back to squeeze past Briscoe and score in the corner, Orford adding the extras.

A superb cut-out pass from Orford opened up the space for Sheriffe’s second, the winger finding himself in the right position to take the ball from Steve Menzies and finish a slick play.

Then Kearney benefited from some more great work from Orford, the scrum half showing he also has a good turn of pace after breaking 30 metres down the left. Kearney drove right through a tackler on the line to score and Orford kicked the conversion.

Cockayne scored in the corner to provide a consolation for Rovers, not before Jake Webster was sent off for a reckless tackle on Donaldson.

But Bradford rounded off the win with their sixth try of the afternoon after another great break from Whitehead.

The second-rower did not seem sure he could go himself this time and the chance looked to have gone when a pass intended for Wayne Godwin hit the ground.

Kearney was on hand to scoop up the loose ball though and canter home, Orford maintaining his perfect record with the boot to add the final points.

Attendance: 9,234