August 2012 It was announced that academy product
Tom Burgess would be joining his brothers (
Luke Burgess,
Sam Burgess and twin brother
George Burgess) at
NRL side
South Sydney Rabbitohs on a two-year deal. Meanwhile, young halfback
Kyle Briggs announced he had signed for former club
Featherstone Rovers on a two-year deal. Kyle had spent the entire 2012 season on loan at Featherstone.
September 2012 September was a positive month in terms of off-field problems as local businessman
Omar Khan agreed to purchase the Bulls for £150,000 with an additional £100,000 to be paid in 2015. This move took the Bulls out of administration however their
Super League status is still in jeopardy and must go through a mini-licensing process against
Championship clubs
Halifax,
Leigh Centurions and
Featherstone Rovers.
Ben Jeffries announced that he was returning home to
Australia at the end of the season to become a miner and play part-time for the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs. Veteran second-rower
Ian Sibbit announces that he will retire from rugby at the end of the season. Second rower
Olivier Elima signs a 2 Year Deal with his former club
Catalans Dragons as he wishes to live in his home country and send his children to a
French school. Fullback
Brett Kearney scooped up Player of the Year at the awards evening. However Prop
Bryn Hargreaves announced his retirement to take up a degree at university.
Australian coach
Mick Potter announces that he will return home to his native land after working without pay at the Bulls. Good news soon followed though as the
Rugby Football League (RFL) released a statement providing the Bulls with a 1-year probationary licence which means the Bulls will have to face a review at the end of the 2013 season.
Francis Cummins was announced as the head coach and signs a 3 Year Deal for the job. Winger and academy product
Jason Crookes Finally made his move to
Hull F.C. on a 3 Year Deal after months of rumours. Utility player
Chev Walker signed a 1-year extension to his contract with the Bulls. It was announced at the annual awards evening that
Mick Potter won Coach of the Year for his efforts at Bradford during a hard 2012 season.
October 2012 Paul Sykes signs a 1 Year Deal with
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats after spending most of the 2012 season on loan at the West Yorkshire club. After much rumour and speculation Bradford born youngster
John Bateman signs an improved 3 Year Extension with the Bulls keeping him at Odsal until 2015. Leeds based
Hunslet Hawks announce the signing of Bulls academy product Callum Windley on a 1 Year Deal after he was released due to the U20's being scrapped and replaced by the U23's and U19's competitions. Coach
Francis Cummins released winger
Karl Pryce, prop
Phil Joseph and also youngster
Alex Ball. Bradford's first signing of the new season came in the form of
Warrington Wolves centre
Matty Blythe on a 1 Year Loan Deal after
Francis Cummins was heavily recommended to Blythe by Wolves coach
Tony Smith. Young fullback
Curtis Naughton (3 Year Deal), centre
Sam Wood (2 Year Deal) and second rower
Oliver Roberts (3 Year Deal) were all give professional contracts and promoted to the first team. Halfback
Luke Gale signs a 3 Year extension to his contract keeping him at Bradford until 2015. Tongan prop
Manase Manuokafoa signed a 2 Year Extension to his contract. October kept on being productive with the announcement that Maltese halfback
Jarrod Sammut signed a 2 Year Extension with the club subject to acquiring a working visa. Academy product
Danny Addy also signed a 1 Year Extension to his contract. It was announced that popular winger
Shaun Ainscough would leave the Bulls after being offered less money to play, he will join the South City Bulls in
New South Wales,
Australia. Meanwhile, Rajas (a fast food chain) becomes the first major sponsorship by an Asian businessman in the club's history. Bradford announced that they had signed a 4-year deal with kit maker
ISC who supply 7 other
Super League teams with kits, this brings an end to a 5-year deal with Kooga.
November 2012 The Bulls announce their 2nd capture of the season,
Warrington Wolves prop
Ben Evans on a 1 Year loan deal, he is the twin brother of Wolves centre
Rhys Evans. Bradford also signed
St. Helens youngster
Jamie Foster on a 1 Year permanent deal. On the 9th Bradford announced a record breaking sponsorship with loan firm
Provident Financial, this sponsorship will be worth £1.2 million over a period of 4 years making it the biggest ever sponsorship in the
Super League history, on the same day the Bulls also previewed the 2013 home shirt. Young loose-forward
James Donaldson signed a 1-year extension to his contract. A couple of days before the fixtures were due to be released clubs were allowed to tweet their first home and away game of the season, Bradford announced they will kick off the 2013 season at home against
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats with their second game at the
KC Stadium to play
Hull FC. The squad numbers were released and youngster
John Bateman was handed the number 11 shirt from
Olivier Elima whilst
Jarrod Sammut will wear the number 6 jersey.
December 2012 The month was relatively uneventful for the Bulls, aside from the announcement that
Salford City Reds prop
Adam Sidlow had signed a two-year contract with Bradford and would wear the number 27 for the 2013 season.
January 2013 On loan prop
Ben Evans had to have surgery on his shoulder and he was out for four months. Also former player
Ian Sibbit returned to be a part of coach
Francis Cummins's backroom staff. Bradford's first pre-season game saw them beat local team
Dewsbury Rams 48-6;
Elliott Whitehead was the star of the game, scoring 4 tries.
Heath L'Estrange,
Matty Blythe,
Matt Diskin and
Manase Manuokafoa also scored tries whilst
Jamie Foster enjoyed a good performance with the boot kicking all 8 goals. The week after businesswoman of the year Kate Hardcastle joined the Bulls in a non-executive role. In their final pre-season game the Bulls drew 24–24 with
Leeds Rhinos for
Danny McGuire's testimonial,
Jarrod Sammut and
Brett Kearney both scored 2 tries each and
Jamie Foster kicked 4 goals. Bradford also showed off their new purple, white and green away kit for 2013.
February 2013 The Bulls announced that their entire squad barring
Matty Blythe and
Ben Evans (who are on loan) have been dual registered with
Dewsbury Rams; this means that anybody who doesn't get into Bradford's game day squad is available to play for the Rams. Bradford kicked off 2013 with a 40–6 win over
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats;
Michael Platt opened the scoring and then
Matty Blythe and
Adam Sidlow both scored on debut.
Jarrod Sammut then grabbed a brace of tries whilst
Jamie Foster and
Brett Kearney also crossed to score, Foster added 6 goals to ensure the Bulls started with a win. That same weekend
James Donaldson and
Adam O'Brien featured for
Dewsbury Rams under the dual registration and O'Brien scored 2 tries to help the Rams to an opening round victory. Bradford were due to play
Hull F.C. away on 8 February but due to an accident on the M62 the game was postponed until the 10th. The Bulls were poor against a strong Hull side but
Matty Blythe and
Brett Kearney both managed to score in the 28–12 loss with
Jamie Foster also kicking 2 goals. Bradford got back to winning ways as a
Brett Kearney hat-trick helped them to a 38–12 win over
Castleford Tigers.
Adam Sidlow,
Matty Blythe and
Chev Walker also scored tries and
Jamie Foster slotted over 7 goals. February finished on a sour note as the Bulls went down 36–10 to
St Helens R.F.C., the Bulls were never at the races but managed to grab two late tries from
Brett Kearney and
Elliot Kear with former Saints player
Jamie Foster kicking a goal.
March 2013 The Bulls soon got back to winning ways as they bounced back and hammered
Huddersfield Giants 43-18.
Jarrod Sammut had a hat-trick whilst
Matty Blythe,
Danny Addy,
Brett Kearney and
Adam O'Brien (his first
Super League try) all crossed to score.
Jamie Foster kicked 7 goals and Sammut slotted over a drop goal to ensure the points came to Bradford. The Bulls backed this great performance with a 22–22 draw against
Widnes Vikings.
Gareth Hock was sent off before halftime when the Bulls were 20–4 in front however the 12 man Widnes side fought back an appalling 2nd half Bradford to claim a point of the Bulls. Bradford's tries came from
Jamie Langley,
Brett Kearney,
Matt Diskin and
Keith Lulia whilst
Jarrod Sammut kicked 3 goals. The Bulls depleted side beat a travelling
Hull Kingston Rovers side 34–12 with
Jamie Foster,
Brett Kearney,
Elliot Kear,
John Bateman and
Jarrod Sammut (2 tries) all scoring,
Jamie Foster kicked 5 goals to ensure that the Bulls took the points. Australian centre
Adrian Purtell made his comeback after suffering a heart attack against
Leeds Rhinos last season. The Bulls lost away to
Catalans Dragons for the second year running as
Elliot Kear and
John Bateman's tries weren't enough to stop the French side beating Bradford 30-10,
Jamie Foster also kicked a goal. Bradford finished March with an 18–18 draw against arch rivals
Leeds Rhinos,
Adrian Purtell and
Tom Olbison gave the Bulls a 12–12 halftime score. However Leeds fought back to lead 18–12 but a late
Adam Sidlow try helped secure a point for the Bulls.
April 2013 The Bulls started April with an average performance as they beat
Salford City Reds 36-24,
John Bateman,
Adrian Purtell,
Brett Kearney and
Jamie Langley all scored a try each and
Jarrod Sammut scored a double.
Jamie Foster added 4 goals before going off injured and Sammut added a further 2 goals. Bradford continued their impressive run of form with a 46–20 win against
London Broncos.
Jarrod Sammut was once again the star of the game as he ran in four second half tries and landed 6 goals to keep the Bulls in 3rd place,
Elliott Whitehead also crossed for 2 tries with
Danny Addy and
Chev Walker each grabbing a try. Bradford were brought back down to earth with a dismal first half performance which led to a 36–6 defeat at the hands of
Wigan Warriors, all six points came from
Jarrod Sammut. Bradford started their
Challenge Cup run with a 70–10 thrashing of lower league
Rochdale Hornets.
Sam Wood scored a try on his debut whilst
Luke Gale and
Jarrod Sammut scored 2 each.
Elliott Whitehead grabbed himself a hat-trick while
Jamie Langley,
Chev Walker,
John Bateman and
Michael Platt also crossed for a try each,
Jamie Foster added 2 goals before going off injured and Sammut booted a further 9 goals. They finished the month with a 32–4 loss to
Warrington Wolves with the Bulls only points coming from an
Adrian Purtell try.
May 2013 The Bulls had a disappointing start to May as they were well beaten at home (42-22) by arch-rivals
Leeds Rhinos, on loan
Ben Evans opened the scoring for Bradford as he crossed for his 1st try for the Bulls. Further tries were added by
Brett Kearney and a double from
Elliot Kear,
Jarrod Sammut also kicked 3 goals in
Jamie Foster's absence. Bradford's season got worse as they were beaten 25–16 in the 5th round of the
Challenge Cup by
London Broncos.
Jarrod Sammut,
Nick Scruton and
Elliot Kear scored for the Bulls as they were knocked out of the cup with Sammut also kicking 2 goals. Young winger
Jamie Foster re-signed with the Bulls for a further 2 years. Due to an injury crisis in the pack
Francis Cummins brought in
Jacob Fairbank from
Huddersfield Giants on a one-month loan. The Bulls overcame this defeat by beating struggling
Salford City Reds 28-7 with
Matty Blythe scoring 2 tries with
Luke Gale,
Adrian Purtell and
Matt Diskin also scoring tries. Sammut added 4 goals to give the Bulls a much needed win. The last game of May saw the Bulls face
Huddersfield Giants at the
Magic Weekend, Bradford had an injury hit side and were out-muscled by a large Giants pack who won the game 42–6 with
Jamie Foster scoring the Bulls only points.
June 2013 June started off bad for the Bulls as they lost 28–18 to playoff rivals
Hull Kingston Rovers.
Jarrod Sammut,
Keith Lulia and
Michael Platt all scored a try with Sammut kicking 2 goals and
Luke Gale kicking another, however Hull KR won the game in the last 10–15 minutes with 2 breakaway tries. This defeat was followed up by the news that young second-row
Tom Olbison had signed a new 2-year deal at the club keeping him until 2015, however the good news was short lived after it was announced that homegrown second-row
Elliott Whitehead had handed in a transfer request as he wishes to play at a top 4 side. Coach
Francis Cummins stated at the time that Whitehead has been put on indefinite leave and will play no further part in the Bulls season. The Bulls then faced an out of form
St Helens R.F.C. side, however Cummins men were not up to the task and lost 30–18 with
Brett Kearney,
Matty Blythe and
Elliot Kear scoring for the Bulls. Gale also kicked 3 goals in the defeat. One of the positive points in that game is that young second-rower
Oliver Roberts was handed his debut off the bench. News surrounding the club increased in the lead up to Bradford's first home game in over a month. The first bit of news was that veteran second-rower
Chev Walker had signed a new 1-year deal with an option of another. Then it was announced that the Bulls had signed
Warrington Wolves and
England RL prop
Gareth Carvell had signed with the Bulls on a 2 Year Deal which will add a bit of size to the relatively small Bradford pack. However bad news was soon to follow as
Keith Lulia is set to go back home to
Australia at the end of the year and youngster
Danny Addy has rejected a new deal that was offered to him. French based
Catalans Dragons announced that they had signed
Elliott Whitehead on a -year deal. It was also announced that hooker and captain
Matt Diskin signed a 1 Year Extension to his contract. Bradford also revealed that legend and fan favourite
Robbie Paul would be returning to the club as deputy director. Bradford finished the month with a 26–12 loss to
Warrington Wolves the Bulls scored late tries through Walker and Donaldson but it wasn't enough to come back and beat the Wolves.
July 2013 The month started off with some good news as
Huddersfield Giants second-row
Dale Ferguson was announced as the Bulls 2nd new signing for the 2014 season. Ferguson was signed on a 2 Year Deal after other clubs such as
Hull Kingston Rovers had also offered deals. In addition to this it was also announced that prop
Manase Manuokafoa had signed a 2 Year Extension to his contract. Bradford travelled to
Wigan Warriors where they suffered a 26–20 defeat after letting go of an 18–4 lead, the Bulls scored through
Michael Platt,
Adam Sidlow and
John Bateman while
Jamie Foster added 4 goals. Bradford managed to beat
Hull F.C. 19-12 to get back on the road to the playoffs. The Bulls tries came from
Jarrod Sammut,
Elliot Kear and
Matt Diskin whilst
Jamie Foster kicked 3 goals and
Luke Gale slotted a drop goal. Recruitment for the 2014 season continued as the Bulls announced that they had signed
Luke George on a 2 Year Deal from
Huddersfield Giants.
August 2013 It was announced that loan signing
Matty Blythe had signed a permanent 3 Year Deal with the Bulls from
Warrington Wolves. Bradford's push for the playoffs received a huge boost as they beat
Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 26-24 with
Keith Lulia scoring 2 tries,
Brett Kearney,
Tom Olbison and
Jamie Foster all scored a try each too while Foster kicked 3 goals. The following week saw the Bulls lose 23–22 to
Catalans Dragons. Lulia once again scored 2 tries with Kearney adding another,
Adrian Purtell also crossed for a try while Foster kicked 3 goals. The game was lost in controversial fashion as Kearney was sin-binned with 7 minutes to go for a professional foul on
Elliott Whitehead and
Ian Henderson crossed the try line to draw before
Thomas Bosc slotted the decisive drop goal to win. Bradford's playoff hopes were ended as they lost 46–34 to
Castleford Tigers,
Jarrod Sammut scored 2 tries whilst
Brett Kearney,
Nick Scruton,
Elliot Kear and
Danny Addy also scored tries.
Jamie Foster added 5 goals but it wasn't enough and the Bulls were out of the playoffs for the 5th year in a row. Some positive news followed as youngster
James Donaldson re-signed with the Bulls for another year.
Danny Addy also signed a 2 Year Extension with the Bulls. The Bulls announced that they had signed young Stand Off
Lee Gaskell on a 2 Year Deal from
St. Helens.
September 2013 After all the good news off the pitch that August brought there was bad news on the pitch in September. The Bulls puck in a lackluster performance against
London Broncos and lost 20–10,
Keith Lulia and
Danny Addy scored for the Bulls while
Jamie Foster kicked a goal. The Bulls finished the season with a 58–6 win against a young
Huddersfield Giants side.
Jarrod Sammut grabbed 4 tries whilst Lulia signed off with a hat-trick.
Danny Addy,
Jamie Foster and
Elliot Kear also scored tries,
Jamie Foster kicked 9 goals. ==2013 milestones==