Head to Head

At Provident Stadium	Last 8 Meetings	Away from Home
LOST 22-42, 03/05/2013	WON 2 LOST 5 DRAW 1	DRAW 18-18, 28/03/2013
LOST 22-37, 27/05/2012		LOST 34-16, 20/07/2012
WIN 12-4, 06/04/2012		WIN 12-18, 24/06/2011
LOST 22-30, 21/04/2011
LOST 28-32, 13/02/2011

Magic Weekend fixtures will display as either home or away

Stats over last 8 encounters

BULLS		Leeds Rhinos
136	TOTAL POINTS	167
23	TOTAL TRIES	29
22	TOTAL GOALS	25

BULLS EYE

 

In Bulls Eye this week, Head Coach Francis Cummins looks ahead to Thursday’s game Headingley Carnegie in the Big Yorkshire Derby.

 

FRANCIS CUMMINS

 

HOW SPECIAL ARE THESE DERBIES?

 

“They are very special to me because they are the only ones I have played in!!  They are the biggest cities in the game and they are in very close proximity to each other; everything you need in a Derby.  I have seen them ebb and flow over the years.  When I was at Leeds we could not do anything at all with Bradford in the first couple of years and then they swung back a bit Leeds way before Bradford really kicked on and dominated for two or three years.  Leeds got the upper hand then and have continued in that way but we have managed a win each year for a few years now, just showing the unpredictability of this fixture.

 

We are going to need the supporters behind us too; not just to support us but to send a message out as to where the club is also.  We will need every man and his dog because there are going to be 16,000 Rhinos fans all shouting for their team,   so we need some support.   I want the fans to see just how far we have come as a team and as a club in the past twelve months.

 

IT’S YOUR FIRST DERBY AS A COACH.  HOW WILL YOU FEEL GIVEN YOUR CONNECTIONS WITH THE RHINOS?

 

“I’ll be doing my job and I am completely focused on that.  I won't be shedding tears or anything like that but it will be nice to catch up with a few people who I haven’t seen for a while.  We’ll have a brief chat before and a good catch up afterwards but it’s Gameday, they are the champions and there will only be one thing on my mind.

 

THE SQUAD IS BEING STRETCHED AT THE MOMENT AND WITH EASTER COMING UP WHAT ARE YOUR THOUGHTS?

 

“Well we knew when we were playing these games and we knew give the size of our squad that there would be times when it was stretched.  We have had to move players around and shuffle, both before and during games but whilst it can be seen as a negative we see it as a positive because it is giving some of our young players an opportunity to show what they can do under pressure and perhaps not playing in their accustomed position.  They will learn from that and be better players in the future because of it.

 

SQUAD NEWS

 

Bulls Coach Francis Cummins has named his 19 – Man Squad for Thursday's game.  

Matty Blythe, Jamie Langley and Keith Lulia are all included. Blythe and Langley, who replace Adam O'Brien and Jobe Murphy in the Squad, have not featured since the game at Widnes and Lulia missed last week's game in Perpignan with a Dead Leg.

 

The Squad is:  James Donaldson, Adam Sidlow, Jamie Langley, Manase Manuokafoa, John Bateman,  Brett Kearney, Nick Scruton, Heath L’Estrange, Adrian Purtell, Keith Lulia, Elliott Whitehead, Elliot Kear, Jarrod Sammut, Danny Addy, Tom Olbison, Chev Walker, Matty Blythe, Jamie Foster, Matt Diskin

 

MILESTONES

 

CHEV WALKER needs 1 Try for a career total of 100.  He has scored 99 Tries for Leeds, Hull KR, Gt Britain, England and Bradford Bulls. 

 

JARROD SAMMUT needs 3 points for a career total of 200 in the British game.  He has scored 35 tries, kicked 28 goals and a 1 drop goal for a points’ total of 197 in 57 games for the Bulls and Crusaders RL.

 

JAMIE FOSTER needs 6 points for a career total of 800. He has scored 41 tries and kicked 315 goals for a points’ total of 794 in 55 appearances for the Bulls, St Helens and Hull FC.