THE look on George Flanagan as his son, Flanagan JR, crashed over for a try on his Bradford Bulls senior debut was like no other.

Pride, ecstasy and unbridled joy lit up the hooker's face as he raced over to celebrate his son’s levelling try against London Broncos on Saturday.

Flanagan JR starter the fixture for the hosts, making his first senior appearance in the process, and he was later joined by his father from the interchange bench.

It was a touching moment for all to see and incidentally, it was the first father-son combination in Bradford Bulls’ history.

Despite Bradford’s crushing 30-12 defeat, Flanagan still had a lot to smile about after his son’s achievements.

He said: “I'm extremely excited and proud. He has been training with us for around two weeks now and he has been chomping at the bit to get going.

"Dunno (Mark Dunning) asked him if he's ready, both physically and mentally and he said he was and it showed it in his display. He has got to be proud of his efforts because I thought he was absolutely outstanding.

“He only weighs 78 kg, too and there are some lads out there who weigh 100 plus kg, so there is a lot of weight difference between him and the opposition. But I thought he matched them physically and he also brought a lot of enthusiasm to our side and was able to make good ground for us with the ball. My family was there to watch and we are all immensely proud of him.”

Flanagan added: “Judging by his performance, I don't think he looked out of place one bit. He came up against a good and athletic team in London and he showed his quality. I don't see any reason why he can't continue as a Championship player, but he's a Bradford lad and for now he should enjoy the moment.”

Discussing his son’s try, Flanagan said: “It was the icing on top of the cake, but I did think the referee was going to give a knock on at first. Thankfully, he managed to pick the ball up and go under the sticks to score and it was just a fantastic moment.

“All the team had been speaking throughout the week to us and saying how much they were looking forward to playing with a father-son combination on the field.

“Funnily enough, my lad said to me at home before the game: what if I score? I said, if you score it's an absolute bonus but try not to get too nervous for the game and just enjoy the moment. He did get the try and it just topped off a great day for me and my family.”

Bradford’s recent run has certainly raised a few eyebrows and Flanagan believes a trip to Barrow on Sunday is the perfect way to bounce back.

He said: “Yes, I do (feel it's a perfect bounce back fixture) because Barrow is an extremely tough place to go and it's never easy when you have to make a Cumbrian trip, especially when Barrow are playing as well as they are.

“We’ve got to up our game and make sure we have a good, honest training week and get exactly how we feel out on the table. Then, we should go to Barrow with confidence, knowing that we’ve prepared well and trained well. That will set us up to compete with a very strong outfit.”