Id go as far to say this is a must win game, but with the injury curse we seem to be going through i think its going to be extremely difficult

Much improved performance today.

Half time score:
Batley 0 Bradford 16

Final score of 6-16 to Bradford. Now a win is a win, but that second half the ill-discipline that cost us against Sheffield came roaring back.
A better team would have taken us to the cleaners

Really good team performance that IMO. Not perfect, had moment of sloppiness early in the first half and we'll need to improve for Widnes next week. But thought as a team we grinded out the win. Think the comment about discipline is a bit harsh. Sheffield we obviously lost the plot. But I thought a fair few of Batleys late penalties were brought with them being desperate rather than us lacking discipline.

Scrappy win for the Bulls. Just glad we got over the line and got the 2 points after a bad spell of games.

Daunting trip to a resurgent Widnes next Sunday.

I thought we showed huge effort & excellent game management, which was what was needed on that slope in winter conditions. Plenty more to come

Just like to say a big thanks to all the Batley bulldogs staff for making our visit , as a neutral (cas fans) to their patch great. And to watch 2 teams slog it out in those wintry conditions. Also to see our man Jake webbo Webster play, brought back a few memories.
Also, all championship clubs should take note, that Batley charge a tenner for adults holding a superleague season ticket, and £3 for kids. This would probably bring more neutral fans into your grounds on a Sunday. Great idea.
Anyway good luck bradford

Really enjoyed the game today the boys showed grit and resilience. Loved seeing the Lilley/Wildie partnership and they organised the game well in the terrible conditions. The forwards were excellent and put some big hits in. I think Kear managed the subs well for the first time in a few weeks. Looking forward to next week. Hope the team doesn’t change too much!

Has anyone else heard that we are trying to get rid of Dane Chisholm?. Rumours on totalrl

Very solid performance. Before the game I thought it could be a total war of attrition, the hailstorm that blew down the hill during the “warm-up” had the Bulls players shielding their eyes. The pitch looked heavy and it would’ve been another slogfest.

As it was we had the slope in the first half and the weather cleared up as the game went on. I thought the forwards were strong again with Crossley really playing himself into form. Green looked well up for it when he came on and Kirk put in a useful stint. Bustin didn’t do long minutes but was effective. Ryan took his try well and the Oakes and Kirk tries were well worked. Having a pair of halfbacks that worked well together was a contrast with last week when we had nobody. The 16 nil halftime lead was well deserved as our defence answered everything Batley threw at it.

Second half was another good defensive effort. Coming up the hill was always going to be tougher. We seemed more disciplined despite conceding a few penalties for technical offences. Not sure why we got a team warning at one point. We didn’t seem to be particularly bad. Although we conceded one try we didn’t really look like conceding another. In attack we seemed to come down the right a bit too much. We’d had some joy down the left in the first half but seemed to ignore that in the second for some reason. As a result we didn’t quite look as effective. Much as I like Rhys Evans he’s not a great passer of the ball and seems too keen to tuck the ball under his arm. Twice he could’ve passed to DFJ who was in the clear but didn’t. Lilley kicked well in the 2nd half and was only caught on the last tackle one. We seemed to be sticking to a plan of pinning them in their 20m and it pretty much worked.

It was a case of solid performances all round. Crossley looked much more like his old self and made a lot of ground. Lilley kicked well and was resolute in defence. Wood had a great first spell – he’s definitely my pick for loose forward. DFJ had a solid debut on the wing and dealt with all the kicks. Flanagan had a much more disciplined game too.

We’ve still got a long way to go to get the attack flowing like it can. The issues with the halfbacks are well known. In truth I think we’ve tried too many combinations and that hasn’t helped. Keyes’ injury doesn’t look like it’s clearing up soon which is a shame as he could offer a bit more of a running threat. I’ve seen the rumours about Chisholm on TRL. It would seem odd if we were offering him around other clubs given that we just gave him a new 1 year contract and he’s just had a kid. Then again stranger things have happened. I would say we didn’t seem to miss him yesterday. Long term I think Rowan Milnes is the man to partner Lilley.

I can't get my head around why this Keyes thing is taking so long to diagnose. It's ridiculous.
It would also be nice if the club bothered to update the fans on player injuries. We'd have no idea about Hitchcox if he didn't say something himself on social media. No word on Grant, Keyes, Chisholm, Minchella no update on Peltier.
How about Chalmers writes something worthwhile in his column for once instead of his usual drivel?

I suppose this issue isn't helped by the fact that there is no local RL journo anymore, and Simon Parker clearly couldn't care less about the bulls.

Grant- Named in the reserves last week but the match was postponed, so I assume he’s near full fitness.
Keyes – Seeing a back specialist this week according to Kear in his pre match interview.
Chisholm – Got a knock on the knee vs York apparently but he was at the game yesterday with partner and child, rumours abound of him being offered to Newcastle on TRL.com
Minchella – Got a broken nose versus Toulouse and rested this week as his face was still very sore – passed the concussion test apparently.
Peltier – out until April.
Hitchcox – out until August.

TBF Chalmers’ column this week was a tame affair.

I’m afraid such is the state of local press that a dedicated RL journalist is unlikely to appointed again.

Elliot had a slight chance of playing against Batley but he still can’t breathe out of his nose due to the swelling so couldn’t be risked.

Chizzy to Thunder rumour wouldn't surprise me at all. He's physically not looked the same since his knee injury and for me just looks totally disinterested.

It could be he now has different life priorities (family, other business interests etc) but whilst we are paying him a wage (which I would imagine if fairly substantial) and Lilley is looking more and more like the organiser we need then maybe it is time to say goodbye.

The only thing I can think of is that he is becoming disillusioned with Kear's style of play but something isn't right behind the scenes.

Lilley/Wildie looked a good pairing but Hallas is far too slow for my liking at hooker. I'd be more than happy to go with Lilley/Wildie combonation if we could get Butterworth back from Giants on loan for the season. Apparently he's been on the phone to Craig Harrison trying to get a move to Batley so he's obviously keen to get some game time.

I thought it was bizarre that Butterworth went to Hudders where they have no reserves. He’s getting no game time at all. He’d have been better staying with us as he’d probably be starting hooker now with Wildie in the halves. Given Flanagan’s contract runs out at the end of the year young Reiss could have been a regular with us in 2020. Instead he’s trying to get a loan deal to a club at our level anyway and in the meantime he’s twiddling his thumbs.

Just goes to show the grass ain’t always greener at a SL side. Lads like him need to be playing.

Chisholm doesn’t look the player he was before his injury, he’s not got the same pace off the mark and without that X factor he’s not got the same game management qualities as Lilley or Keyes. I just hope Keyes can recover from his injury worries. I’ve high hopes for Rowan Milnes who isn’t far away from being the ideal stand off for us soon.