Bradford must take care of reigning Betfred Tremendous League Man of Metal Jake Connor if they’re to mark their return to Magic Weekend with a long-awaited top-flight away win in Liverpool subsequent Sunday.
Leeds head coach Brad Arthur has moved to quash fears that Connor might miss out on the large West Yorkshire derby after he was taken off with 10 minutes remaining in Friday night time’s thumping win over Hull KR at Headingley.
Connor scored one attempt, assisted in 4 others and kicked seven objectives out of seven to keep up his extraordinary kind, and Arthur indicated straight after the sport that he hoped his withdrawal can be a precautionary measure.
Arthur confirmed on Monday: “Jake was a little bit busted up going into the game so we got in a position with 10 minutes to go where we had the luxury.
“It was nothing to do with disrespect to the opposition. Jake’s been selecting up a number of bumps and bruises and he’s actually essential to us. The consequence was locked away, and we needed to look to subsequent week.”
Sunday’s conflict on the Hill Dickinson Stadium will signify Bradford’s first Magic Weekend conflict since they accomplished their ultimate season within the high flight in 2014, earlier than plunging right into a decade of economic strife.
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Highlights of the Tremendous League match between Warrington Wolves and Leeds Rhinos.
However the historical past of such massive events – not least the notorious 2007 Magic Weekend conflict with Leeds that noticed referee Steve Ganson award Leeds a controversial, match-winning penalty for which he subsequently apologised – nonetheless weighs closely at Odsal.
Add the additional incentive for the Bulls of recording their first away win within the high flight in additional than 4,000 days, victory at London on the day they bade farewell to Tremendous League in September 2014, and Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty acknowledged the significance of the event.
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Highlights of the Tremendous League match between Bradford Bulls and York Knights.
“My biggest bugbear within the club is that we’ve not got that win on the road yet, and it’s really starting to irritate me,” Haggerty mentioned.
“I think we’ve added to the competition this season and we’ve shown that on our day we can turn pretty much any team over. So it’s great to see the Bulls back in on the big stage.
“We might like to get our first away win towards Leeds, if not this weekend, then later at Headingley. However it might resonate fairly nicely with most followers if we gained this weekend.”
Super League 2026 – upcoming key dates
- Magic Weekend: July 4-July 5
- Rivals Round reversed: July 23-July 26
- Elimination Play-offs: September 19-September 20
- Play-off semi-finals: September 26-September 27
- Grand Final: October 3
Sky Sports will show every game of the Super League live this season, including two matches each round exclusively live. The remaining five matches will be broadcast on Sky Sports activities+
