Head to Head

At Provident Stadium	Last 8 Meetings	Away from Home
WIN 36-24, 01/04/2013	WON 4 LOST 3 DRAW 1	WIN 7-28, 17/05/2013
LOST 18-38, 25/03/2012		DRAW 20-20, 18/05/2012
WIN 28-14, 29/05/2011		LOST 56-16, 16/04/2011
LOST 26-30, 18/07/2010		WIN 0-7, 26/02/2010

Magic Weekend fixtures will display as either home or away

Stats over last 8 encounters

BULLS		Salford City Reds
151	TOTAL POINTS	186
27	TOTAL TRIES	34
21	TOTAL GOALS	25

In this week’s Bulls Eye, Head Coach Francis Cummins looks ahead to Friday’s Super League clash at the City of Salford Stadium against Brian Noble’s Salford Reds.

 

FRANCIS CUMMINS

 

WAS IT A CHANCE LOST LAST WEEK IN THE CHALLENGE CUP?

 

“Very much so and we are very disappointed. We worked really hard and we were without two of our middle unit players to start with and then losing Donaldson, who is also a middle player and Kearney early in the game were big blows to us.  We made the metres but didn’t come up with the plays and we just need to settle down and be more composed.  We need our experienced players to take more control of the game; to step up a bit, calm everyone down and enjoy the territory.  We didn’t get much field position in the first half but after the break we dominated without taking the right options.”

 

YOU ARE IN A LITTLE TROUGH OF RESULTS AT THE MOMENT. IS IT A BLIP OR A RUT?

 

“It’s certainly not a rut.  Yes we lost to London, who probably played as well as they have done this year but the other side’s we lost to; Wigan, Warrington and Leeds are not bad teams, are they!  But I am looking for a performance because in all those games we had some very good spells but weren’t good enough to get the result.  We need to keep on with what we are doing and have faith in what we are doing.  We showed a lot of good stuff against London but we need to be more patient at our opponent’s end of the field.”

 

SO WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF FRIDAY’S GAME?

 

“Well again they are going through a bad time but they have new Coaching Staff of board and they will want to impress them. It’s a game where we need to get back to our best and if we do that then I am confident we can get the result but make no mistake it will be a tricky game.  They are like us and will not be happy with their last three outings, so they will want to get back to their best and show what they can do.  

 

ARE THEY A BIT OF AN UNKNOWN QUANTITY WITH BRIAN NOBLE GOING IN THERE AND MAKING HIS CHANGES??

 

“There are some players there that we know a lot about as they have been at other clubs and we know how they play individually but as for the team, with the new coaching staff, they may play a little differently but I am more concerned with how we play.”        

 

SQUAD NEWS

 

Bulls Coach Francis Cummins has named his Squad for the game at Salford on Friday.  He is still waiting to see if he can bring a player in on loan and if that is successful he will amend the Squad.  Brett Kearney and Manase Manuokafoa both miss out with groin and thumb injuries respectively but James Donaldson is fit to play after being knocked unconscious in a foul tackle at London last week.  Jamie Langley returns to the Squad and if he plays it will be his 250^th appearance for the Bulls.  Adam Sidlow is a doubt with a shoulder injury but will be given as much time as possible to recover.

 

The Squad is:  James Donaldson, Adam Sidlow, Michael Platt, Luke Gale, Elliot Kear, Nick Scruton, John Bateman, Heath L’Estrange, C, Adrian Purtell, Keith Lulia, Elliott Whitehead, Matt Diskin, C, Jarrod Sammut, Danny Addy, Jamie Langley, Chev Walker, Ben Evans, Matty Blythe.

 

MILESTONES

 

JAMIE LANGLEY needs 1 appearance to reach 250 for the Bulls.  He has made 190 starting appearances and 59 substitute appearances since making his debut at Wakefield in 2002.  He has scored 39 tries for a total of 156 points.

 

JARROD SAMMUT needs 9 points for a total of 200 for the Bulls.  He has scored 23 tries, kicked 49 goals and a drop goal for a total of 191 points.