I really wish as a Wigan fan but also a rugbyleague fan I could shed some positives on today from a Bradford point of view but it's difficult. The reason I say that is because I thought we were short of our best for long parts. We hit top gear in the first 20 mins of the second half but didn't get going at all in the first half.

I thought the low point was the missed kicks to touch. We were giving sloppy penalties away and giving you a foot in the game but got given the ball back twice when by rights we should have been defending our 20.

I said at the start of the season that this was a new team, and would take at least a couple of months to gel into something like a unit.

Unfortunately, we have early games against the likes of Wigan and Warrington, which we were never going to win, as they have become well oiled machines, and are better than us.

But that would be if we could actually get anything approaching a fit first choice team on the paddock. I don't need to list all our absentees, we can all recite them by heart, but then on top of that to lose Gale for maybe 6 weeks, after only 10 minutes, was not only cruel, but took the understanding that has been beginning to form between half backs, and the system we want to play, and kicked it over the Odsal roof. At least Gale is a very decent player, as we have already seen, but to play without him for most of the game is surely a mtigating factor that any reasonable person would agree? Yes we were disorganised in the second half, but is it any wonder?

So in the circumstances it isn't a surprise that we got thumped. And so far this season, any accusations of the sort of lack of committment and lack of effort that has sometimes been evident in recent seasons, would be wide of the mark.

But, despite many new faces, the Bulls remain clear champions at one thing, and that is pathetic schoolboy howler mistakes. This I have given up trying to understand. Potter must shoulder his share of the blame for his role in team performance but you can't blame him for stuff like Sammut missing touch on 2 consecutive kicks, the second one as lamentable an effort as I've seen. (Though it would of course normally have been Gale kicking).

You also can't blame Potter for persistently coughing up the ball cheaply, such as the drop on our 10 meter line, in cold blood, which took the wind back out of our sails. At 10-16, with half time looming, it was not at all bad.

Where Potter must accept full blame is the at time shocking disarray of our defence. We have had avalanches of tries scored against us in the last couple of seasons, and whatever injury problems you have, I really don't see any excuse for shipping so many cheap points. Especially when against Catalans they showed that they are capable of committed and organised defence. Don't get me wrong, some of Wigan's tries were just great rugby, that nobody would have stopped, but often we just seemed to have no personnel in attendance in whole swathes of the field, and any one of 4 or 5 Wigan players could have strolled in. Too often, when they get the ball, the opposition can make easily 50 or 60 metres, and too often, if they get into our 20, we seem totally incapable of ever preventing a score.

Whatever the defensive systems are, they are pretty much, taken across a season, on a par with the worst in the league, and after 3 games show no signs of improvement.

Right. After considering what I saw today I have to concede that Mick Potter and his staff do not have what it takes to coach at this level.

I didn't expect us to beat Wigan today. I was just hoping that we'd give them a game rather than just lay down and take a kicking.

I was disappointed to be 22-10 down at half time, but I wasn't too unhappy with the performance we'd shown in the first half.
We'd lost Gale and, as the majority of our points this year have come from him, seeing him go off injured was obviously a blow to Bradford's game plan for the afternoon. However, being only 2 converted tries behind at the break against a team like Wigan is nothing to be ashamed of.

However, it seemed that at half time someone went into the Bradford dressing room and informed the players that the 2nd half would be played under touch-rugby rules. This is the only reason I can think of for the terrible defensive performance the Bulls showed in the second forty minutes.

I have no doubt that some people will point to Gale's withdrawal from game as a major factor in Bradford's capitulation this afternoon, but I cannot accept that excuse as Gale went off after 10 minutes meaning we played the majority of the 1st half without him and that half we kept Wigan to within 2 converted tries.

However, that's not to say the loss of Gale didn't have an effect but I cannot accept his injury as an excuse for the 40 minutes when he was not even on the field.

Mick Potter has virtually changed the entire squad from the one Steve McNamara put together. However, he seems incapable of changing the losing mentality that permeates everything at Odsal and I fear for the future of our club as the good will that saw us break 10k season tickets 2 years running will not hold out for a 3rd year of appalling performances.

The club needs to move now to improve it's situation because out of the last 4 matches against SL opposition we've conceded 146 points and scored 54 points. Or to put that another way, we're conceding nearly 3 times the points we're scoring. This is not acceptable and if no change is forth coming then you can say goodbye to 10k+ crowds at Odsal because the fans will once again vote with their feet and abandon the club and I'm afraid that this time there'll be no coming back.

My take on today.

Set off very well indeed tbh. Upon loosing Gale though, understandably lost some attacking organisation, and the absence of a kicking game meant poor field position (those 2 touch finding attempts killed us!)

Our defence up till this point, especially in the middle, had looked good IMO. Both of Wigans first 2 tries being scored right in the corners.

Then Hargreaves and Koppy were rested (2 of our better defenders IMO). Burgess knocked on the second tackle, gifting Wigan a set of six with excellent field position leading to a try.

HT 22-10 (?) But still in the game.

Potter half time talk must have consisted of a hot chocolate, foot rub and a jackanory story.

Wigan came out on fire, Bradford came out asleep. Butchered us up the middle, winning the collisions. Then with quick play the ball hit edge plays....but with no push from the forwards inside the slide defence...didn't slide...chaos.

Still think Platt is very poor defensively.

Wigan piled on the points. 48-10 was it?

Saw alot of fans leavsing with 25 mins to go!!

Hargreaves and Koppy back on. Steadied the ship......or Wigan stopped trying.

FT 54- 16

Most of the players seemed angry, embarassed, de motivated, upset with the result.

Potters attitude seemed...Don't worry lads you tried your best, put in the effort and never expected you to win.

We need a new coach. Someone with a backbone and bit of fire in the belly!!!

Today wasn't good enough. The players know it. The fans know it.

I couldn't understand how we couldn't get away from their markers at the PTB and they couldn't get tackled by ours. It can't take a serious amount of skill to defend the PTB area. We leaked 3 tries today from that and couldn't get forward by our inability to beat the first man.

Our forwards don't run from deep enough either. O'Loughlin took a ball in and gained 10m, ran it from deep and ran like his life depended on it. Langley (from the next set) ran it in and got 5m and trundled to get those. Hock had a barnstorming run which put whitehead on his booty then he got the offload away for a 2nd phase. At no point in the game did any one of our forwards run from deep and flat out at the wigan defence. One out rubbish for most of the day.

Wigan have lots of different levels of play with many lead runners and player movement off the ball keeping defenders inetrested....we have 1 out off the ruck into a wall.

First part bout the markers, it takes a very very disciplined system to defend at marker. Will to work and a good push from A and B defenders. So yes it is hard to defend at marker when you have their fast players round ruck if your losing the floor and undisciplined. Also the reason we couldn't get away from their markers were because we had no dummy runners near rook, scooters had no man coming back to the ruck to hold the markers to give the guy room to run. Or a man coming through to hold the marker and a back ball to a forward running away from the ruck to B and C defenders. Its just a poor attacking system that is ever so visible. Also bulls seem to love this drop off to a forward aiming back to the markers, the hooker seems to drag the first marker away and hit the hole behind him to the dead space, but seem to forget there is a SECOND marker and the runner gets smashed. There is not enough angled running from our pack and every thing is so straight on that they are a huge target to the defenders.

Before we lost Gale I thought we could win, at half time i thought we could give them a game. But the second half defensive effort was a disgrace and all the rubbish on here trying to make excuses doesn't change the fact that most forwards at Bradford are stealing a living.

The backs look alright and when fully fit will be as good as any team in Superleague - Crookes for example has improved massively but I'm sorry Scruton and Hargreaves especially (but not only those two) are not fit to pull that shirt on. In fact they are Pennine League at best based on what I've seen. I hope to God they prove me wrong.

Just watched the tries on Super League Extra Time - painful viewing, but I wanted to check something that I noticed this afternoon.

I realise it was his first game in a new team, but Keith Lulia was woeful in defence. He missed two one-on-one tackles that led directly to tries, and was out of position on at least two others. I'm sure we were told the Lulia had a solid defensive game?

Like I say, first game etc - but if Platt had defended like that he'd have been crucified on this board.

Lulia was definitely to be blame for a couple of tries, the Darrell Goulding try was particularly weak. But as you say it was his first game over here, against one of the best sides in the comp and he hasn't played for around 6 months. I saw enough of him in the NRL to convince me that he'll be a vast improvement on what we have seen at centre in the last couple of years.

I'll certainly give the guy some time to settle. He needs to shape up quickly though, because his effort was poor this afternoon.

I'd certainly like to see him getting involved a little more. He didn't get a decent pass in space all day, but he didn't often come in field looking to take some pressure off the forwards much either. But he was probably feeling the pace a little after so little gametime. I think he'll turn out to be dependable centre for us in the next couple of months.

Not sure I agree with that. Our backs as good as any in superleague?!.....

I thought Hargreaves had a decent game today?! Especially defensively, tackled everything that moved. Most of the points scored when he was off the pitch! What would you have him do different?

Ultimately for me tho. It's Brian Potter that needs to pull his finger out!!

I am afraid that you will probably have to wait till round 8 for your first home win as it is Wire and Saints next up.

Wire look really good to me this time out

Thought Hargreaves actually had a decent game, koppy was again a real work horse and showed the other bulls props how they should play! Concerned about scruton as he has gone backwards rapidly and to cut a long story short does nothing, he is on big ££££ well what a waste of the salary cap. Burgess is another massive concern as he is unable to keep hold of the ball. He looks overweight and unfit.