BRADFORD Bulls Women captain Grace Ramsden insists her team are slowly starting to find their feet after a difficult start to the season.

A youthful, new-look side were crushed 86-0 in their Super League opener by St Helens, and also suffered a 70-0 defeat to Leeds in the Challenge Cup.

But they have since picked up a fine 40-28 victory at Warrington, and ran Leeds much closer in the league.

Sadly, Bulls won’t get chance to build on their new-found momentum this weekend, with a raft of injuries and Covid isolation protocols meaning they don’t have enough players to face prospective opponents York.

That means the City Knights have been awarded a 24-0 win.

Ramsden said: “It is a shame, but I know the RFL are trying to be strict with their Covid rules.

“It would have been ideal to play York as we could have seen what they’ve become and how they’re performing, as they’re a new-look side.

“We lost Savannah Andrade and Olivia Wood to them in May and though it would have been nice to see them again, and I am happy for them, it would have been good to get one over them.

“I guess that’ll have to wait for another day.”

On a more positive note, Ramsden said: “I really think we’re clicking. We’ve not had high expectations this season with a new-look squad, but we’ve really gelled over the last six weeks or so and we can push now.

“It’s taken time to settle in but we’ve played Leeds twice, and you could see the difference.

“We lost 70-0 in the cup at the start of May and only 42-10 in the league the other week.

“The points on the board put everything into perspective and showed we’re coming together.”

Asked about Bulls’ sole Super League win so far at Warrington, Ramsden said: “We went into that off the back of a loss we weren’t expecting against Huddersfield, which I think gave everyone a kick up the backside.

“But Warrington gave the girls a massive confidence boost, and hopefully we’ll get some more wins in the bag, against Widnes and Featherstone.

“I think we can give Castleford a game too and I hope we can aim for a top six or seven finish this season.”

Ramsden is captain of the side at just 23, and she said: “I started out at Bradford when I was 20.

“It’s been three years with a lot of coaching and player changes but I feel like we’ve regrouped now.”

And in a largely youthful squad, Ramsden is grateful for a veteran trio’s influence.

She said: “We’ve probably got three senior heads in Sarah Dunn (40), Stacey Greenwood (35) and Danielle Bose (33).

“They’re three players that have been at Bradford for a very long time and have suffered massive changes.

“But you can’t underestimate how crucial it is to have them assisting the younger players in the squad.

“It gives the younger ones a boost of confidence just having them around.”

Bulls’ remaining regular season fixtures are against Wakefield, Featherstone and Castleford, before Women's Super League is split at the end of July.

The top four will compete in the play-offs, with an end of year Grand Final, while the remaining six take part in the Shield competition.

The top-four after the round robin phase will compete in semis and then a final to crown the Shield winner.