BULLS team-mates Jayden Okunbor and Franklin Pele moved in together this week, with the last 12 months having taken a very different path to the one both were expecting.
It was around this time last year that Hull FC signed the duo from NRL side Canterbury Bulldogs, hoping the two of them would make a big impact in Super League.
Yet Okunbor and Pele endured nightmare starts to the season, with the pair often singled out by fans and journalists as being the worst of a bad bunch, as the Black & Whites tanked.
Hull had released both by the start of July, yet their horror year in Super League has continued, while Okunbor and Pele have enjoyed a new lease of life at Bradford.
The former is a try-scoring machine out on the wing, while the latter, at prop, has continually blitzed Betfred Championship defences to smithereens with his unbelievable power.
And Okunbor is hoping the fans’ love for Pele, along with his own considerable influence, can convince the prop to stay put after this season is over.
It is common knowledge that Bradford have offered Pele a new deal, but he has yet to make a decision whether to sign it
Housemate Okunbor is definitely staying at Odsal for at least the 2025 season, and he said: “Franklin makes a massive difference to our side.
“We’ve had a pretty crazy journey, we were at Bulldogs, then Hull, and now Bradford, so we’ve been together the whole way.
“I’m hoping he stays, because we’ve just moved into a place so I’ll be pretty gutted if he leaves me.
“I’ve been getting in his ear about getting him to stay, but it’s a big decision because he’s still only young and he’s got his partner over here, so he’s got to do what’s best for him.
“Seeing how happy he is here though, I’ve got my fingers crossed that he’ll sign a deal with Bulls some time soon.”
Another player whose 2025 destination has not been decided yet is Jorge Taufua.
He and Okunbor are two of the division’s most powerful wingers, adept at running through for tries and stopping opposition attacks emphatically.
Asked if the pair of them bring something a little different to the table out wide, Okunbor said: “Our job in the team is to get us out of yardage, though I’d say the bone-rattling tackles are more Jorge than me.
“But I think we add something different to the other wingers in the comp, because we love doing the stuff other people don’t want to do, like happily taking the yardage carries off our own line.
“The team put us in those positions though, and they make our jobs pretty simple, so if Jorge and I just keep doing what we have been, we’ll be happy.”
And Australian speedster Okunbor is much happier in every regard after a tough start to the year.
He said: “It didn’t work out the way I wanted it to at Hull.
“But since being at Bradford, I’ve really felt at home, and they’ve made the transition super-easy.
“Being around the boys a lot make things easier because everyone’s really tight here.
“The Aussie and English boys all get along well, where it might be different at some clubs, and it does feel like one big family.
“It helps having so many Aussies here but everyone at the club is awesome, right through to the volunteers and the fans.
“The supporters come out to every game and I still can’t believe how many travelled over to support us in Toulouse.
“Our away games feel like home ones, and I can’t thank the fans enough for that.”
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