“When it’s filmed at a particular church everyone turns up, so I’m hoping the same happens here because the cameras are coming,” was how John Kear described the anticipation for Bradford’s Challenge Cup tie with Leeds on Saturday afternoon. For years Bradford versus Leeds was one of the standout fixtures in Super League: so much so in fact that they met in numerous major finals around the turn of the century. But following the Bulls’ Grand Final victory against the Rhinos in 2005, one of rugby league’s most famous clubs slid into an irreversible decline. While Leeds continued to dominate the sport, financial mismanagement saw Bradford enter administration three times in six years, culminating in the club’s liquidation in 2017. Nothing I’ve seen in the 18 months since has told me otherwise.” Kear, one of the most revered coaches in the game and the man who took Sheffield to their famous Challenge Cup win over Wigan in 1998, guided Bradford to promotion back to the Championship last season at the first attempt. A former Leeds junior, Minchella is one of several Bradford-born players in Kear’s squad, a philosophy that underpins the Bulls’ attempts to get back to Super League in the years ahead. The biggest crowd since the Bulls reformed, over 10,000, is expected at Odsal on Saturday afternoon for the occasion – the size of which is not lost on Kear. This is a huge club waiting to get back among the elite: we need to show it on Saturday.” In the 1980s, Bradford council coined the slogan “Bradford’s Bouncing Back” to try and revive the city’s ailing image.
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