REPORT
Bradford were once again left frustrated and disappointed at Odsal Stadium as the Warriors hit some red hot form to beat the Bulls 16-54 in Round 3 of The Stobart Super League.
Wigan winger Pat Richards produced a 16-point haul to overtake Frano Botica on the club's all-time points-scoring chart as the Warriors cruised to victory.
The 2010 Man of Steel scored one of his side's 10 tries and kicked six goals from eight attempts to take his points tally for the club to 1,943, edging him in front of Botica, with only Jim Sullivan and Andy Farrell now in front of him.
The Warriors made easy it work, with Darrell Goulding, Josh Charnley, Liam Farrell and Chris Tuson all crossing to score two tries.
The Bulls, who gave debuts to centre Keith Lulia and prop forward Phil Joseph, suffered a major blow when they lost goalkicking half-back Luke Gale with ankle ligament damage only nine minutes into the game and found themselves trailing 16-0 after 22 minutes.
Full-back Sam Tomkins, a constant thorn in Bradford's side, did the early damage, joining the line and helping create an overlap for Goulding to send his winger Charnley over for the game's first try.
When stand-off Brett Finch carved out a simple touchdown for Richards and second rower Gareth Hock sidestepped past full-back Brett Kearney for a third try, the game looked to be over.
But Bradford left-winger Jason Crookes stopped the rot when he touched down Kearney's pinpoint kick to the corner on 29 minutes.
Former Crusaders RL half-back Jarrod Sammut, jeered by the Bulls fans after twice failing to find touch with penalty kicks, made amends by landing the touchline conversion and then brought the crowd to its feet with an 80-metre breakaway try, pouncing on a loose pass from Tomkins and accelerating away.
That made it 16-10 but Bradford undid much of their good work by conceding a try to Wigan substitute Tuson, who forced his way over from close range four minutes before half-time.
Richards' third goal made it 22-10 and Wigan ran in five more tries in the third quarter to put the result beyond doubt.
They extended their lead within 90 seconds of the restart when Goulding made the most of some missed tackes to open his account for the season before Tuson took Finch's defence-splitting pass to wrongfoot Kearney for his second try.
A touchline break from Richards set up the position for Tuson to send fellow back rower Liam Farrell and, with the winger clearly winded by his efforts, Tomkins kicked the conversion.
The Warriors continued to make it look all too easy as Goulding and Charnley both scored their second tries.
Bradford pulled a try back through Kearney and Sammut kicked a second goal but Richards had the final say when he broke clear to send Farrell over for his second try and kicked his sixth conversion.
Bradford Bulls Stats
Team
Brett Kearney, Jason Crookes, Michael Platt, Keith Lulia, Elliot Kear, Jarrod Sammut, Luke Gale, Bryn Hargreaves, Matt Diskin, Craig Kopczak, Elliott Whitehead, Chev Walker, Jamie Langley,
Subs: Phil Joseph, Nick Scruton, Tom Burgess, Heath L'Estrange,
Tries
Brett Kearney(1) Jason Crookes(1) Jarrod Sammut(1)
Goal Attempts
Jarrod Sammut(3)
Goals
Jarrod Sammut(2)
Drop Goals
Wigan Warriors Stats
Team
S. Tomkins, Charnley, Goulding, Richards, Finch, Leuluai, McIlorum, Mossop, Hansen, Hock, O'Loughlin, Gelling, Flower.
Subs: Lima, Farrell, Tuson, Lauaki.
Tries
Josh Charnley (2), Pat Richards, Gareth Hock, Chris Tuson (2), Darrell Goulding (2), Liam Farrell (2),
Goals
Pat Richards (6 from 8), Sam Tomkins (1 from 1)