1998 Bradford Bulls season explained

Year:1998
Team Colour:
  1. ffffff
Font Colour:
  1. f32824
League:Super League
League Link:Super League III
League Rank:5th
League Wins:12
League Draws:0
League Losses:12
Points For:591
Points Against:540
Playoff Result:Elimination Play-off
Cup:Challenge Cup
Cup Result:5th Round
Cup Wins:1
Cup Losses:1
Ceo Title:Chairman
Ceo:Chris Caisley
Coach Title:Head Coach
Coach:Matthew Elliot
Stadium:Odsal Stadium
Avg Attendance:13,026
High Attendance:19,188 vs. Leeds Rhinos
Top Tries:Tevita Vaikona (13)
Top Goals:Steve McNamara (81)
Top Points:Steve McNamara (170)
Prev Season:1997
Next Season:1999
List:yes
List Link:List of Bradford Bulls seasons

This article details the Bradford Bulls rugby league football club's 1998 season, the 3rd season of the Super League era.

Season review

February 1998

The 1998 season started off with a 48–10 win over Rochdale Hornets in the Challenge Cup 4th Round, it was in this game that Wigan Warriors legend Shaun Edwards made his try scoring debut with the Bulls. However soon they were knocked out of the Cup for the 1st time before the final since the Super League started. It was Castleford Tigers who scored late in the game to beat Bradford 26–21.

April 1998

Bradford started off their league hopes with a 38–6 win against newly promoted Huddersfield Giants. However they were brought down to earth when they lost 26–6 to arch-rivals Leeds Rhinos after a sublime display from fullback Iestyn Harris. Bradford were soon back winning points as they ground out a hard-fought 11–4 win against Sheffield Eagles. The Bulls managed to get their 1st back to back wins of the season as they struggled against Hull Sharks but just about scraped a 26–24 win.

May 1998

The Bulls won their next game 18–4 against St. Helens however the week after Halifax Blue Sox beat Bradford 21–16 in a thrilling encounter. Bradford bounced back though by stuffing Castleford Tigers 52–10 and then dispatched of London Broncos 17–14.

June 1998

June started off poor for the Bulls as they lost 28–10 to Warrington Wolves after Graeme Bradley was sent off. Bradford also lost to eventual champions Wigan Warriors 28–12. The Bulls bad run continued with a shock 11–10 loss to Salford City Reds with Paul Medley scoring Bradford's only try. Bradford got back to winning ways with a comprehensive 36–10 victory over Huddersfield Giants.

July 1998

Bradford got off to a great start in July as they beat arch-rivals Leeds Rhinos 33–22 at Headingley. The Bulls travelled to Tynecastle Stadium to play London Broncos in an attempt to spread rugby league into Scotland, the Bulls lost to London 22–8 with ex Bulls player Shaun Edwards pulling the strings for the Broncos.

August 1998

Sheffield Eagles added to the Bulls misery when they beat Bradford 38–18 to kick off August, however it wasn't long before the Bulls won again as they beat Hull Sharks 38–18 with Tevita Vaikona scoring 2 tries against his former side. Bradford were brought back to earth with a 33–25 defeat at St. Helens, a late Tommy Martyn try and a Sean Long drop goal won it for the Saints. Halifax Blue Sox continued their fine run of form by beating the Bulls 25–12 at The Shay. The final game in August saw the Bulls beat Castleford Tigers 24–8 to get back to winning ways.

September 1998

The month didn't start well for Bradford as they received a 34–8 hammering by London Broncos. The Bulls responded to this defeat by beating Warrington Wolves 36–8 at Odsal Stadium. The final two games saw contrasting results, the 1st saw the Bulls get hammered by Wigan Warriors 38–4 and the 2nd saw them destroy Salford City Reds 40–18 in the final league game of the year.

October 1998

The Bulls crashed out of the playoffs when they lost 46–24 to St. Helens at Knowsley Road.

1998 milestones

Table

width=20 abbr="Position"width=175Teamwidth=20 abbr="Played"Pldwidth=20 abbr="Won"Wwidth=20 abbr="Drawn"Dwidth=20 abbr="Lost"Lwidth=20 abbr="Points for"PFwidth=20 abbr="Points against"PAwidth=20 abbr="Points difference"PDwidth=20 abbr="Points"Pts
1 Wigan Warriors232102762222+54042
2 Leeds Rhinos231904662369+29338
3 Halifax Blue Sox231805658390+26836
4 St. Helens231418673459+21429
5 Bradford Bulls2312011498450+4824
6 Castleford Tigers2310112446522−7621
7London Broncos2310013415476−6120
8 Sheffield Eagles238213495541−4618
9 Hull Sharks238015421574−15316
10 Warrington Wolves237115411645−23415
11 Salford City Reds236116319575−25613
12 Huddersfield Giants232021288825−5374
Play-offs

1998 fixtures and results

LEGEND
 width=100Win
 width=100Draw
 width=100Loss

1998 JJB Sports Super League

DateCompetitionRndVrsH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAtt
 3 April 1998Super League III1Huddersfield GiantsAMcAlpine StadiumW38–6Vaikona (2), Bradley, Edwards, Forshaw, Peacock, SpruceMcNamara 5/712,417
 12 April 1998Super League III2Leeds RhinosHOdsal StadiumL6–26CallandMcNamara 1/219,188
 17 April 1998Super League III3Sheffield EaglesADon Valley StadiumW11–4Edwards, SpruceMcNamara 1/2, Graham 1 DG6,200
 26 April 1998Super League III4Hull SharksAThe BoulevardW26–24Calland (2), Peacock (2), VaikonaMcNamara 3/59,447
 10 May 1998Super League III5St. HelensHOdsal StadiumW18–4Lowes, McDermott, VaikonaMcNamara 3/314,091
 17 May 1998Super League III6Halifax Blue SoxHOdsal StadiumL16–21Paul (2), VaikonaMcNamara 2/316,337
 22 May 1998Super League III7Castleford TigersAThe JungleW52–10Paul (3), Edwards (2), McDermott (2), Donougher, Peacock, VaikonaMcNamara 6/108,043
 29 May 1998Super League III8London BroncosHOdsal StadiumW17–14Bradley, Lowes, McDermottMcNamara 2/3, McNamara 1 DG11,893
 7 June 1998Super League III9Warrington WolvesAWilderspool StadiumL10–28Calland, VaikonaMcNamara 1/26,054
 12 June 1998Super League III10Wigan WarriorsHOdsal StadiumL12–28McDermott, VaikonaMcNamara 2/214,103
 21 June 1998Super League III11Salford City RedsAThe WillowsL10–11MedleyMcNamara 3/36,319
 28 June 1998Super League III12Huddersfield GiantsHOdsal StadiumW36–10Bradley (2), Deacon, Forshaw, Lowes, SpruceMcNamara 5/5, Deacon 1/112,024
 3 July 1998Super League III13Leeds RhinosAHeadingley StadiumW33–22Forshaw (2), Calland, Paul, ScalesMcNamara 6/6, McNamara 1 DG16,824
 18 July 1998Super League III14London BroncosNTynecastle StadiumL8–22Bradley, ScalesMcNamara 0/26,863
 2 August 1998Super League III15Sheffield EaglesHOdsal StadiumL18–38Bradley (2), LowesMcNamara 3/311,493
 9 August 1998Super League III16Hull SharksHOdsal StadiumW38–18Vaikona (2), Forshaw, McAvoy, Paul, ScalesMcNamara 7/711,294
 16 August 1998Super League III17St. HelensAKnowsley RoadL25–33Vaikona (2), Bradley, SpruceMcNamara 4/4, McNamara 1 DG6,955
 23 August 1998Super League III18Halifax Blue SoxAThe ShayL12–25Deacon, McDermottMcNamara 2/27,566
 31 August 1998Super League III19Castleford TigersHOdsal StadiumW24–8Lowes, Scales, SpruceMcNamara 6/610,946
 6 September 1998Super League III20London BroncosAThe StoopL8–34BradleyMcNamara 2/24,562
 13 September 1998Super League III21Warrington WolvesHOdsal StadiumW36–8Lowes (2), Bradley, Ekoku, Paul, SpruceMcNamara 4/4, Deacon 2/210,815
 20 September 1998Super League III22Wigan WarriorsACentral ParkL4–38EkokuMcNamara 0/111,181
 27 September 1998Super League III23Salford City RedsHOdsal StadiumW40–18Deacon (2), Bradley, Harmon, Howard, McNamara, PaulMcNamara 5/6, Deacon 1/111,102

Challenge Cup

LEGEND
 width=100Win
 width=100Draw
 width=100Loss
DateCompetitionRndVrsH/AVenueResultScoreTriesGoalsAtt
 15 February 1998Cup4thRochdale HornetsASpotland StadiumW48–10Forshaw (2), Calland, Edwards, Jowitt, Lowes, Paul, Spruce, VaikonaLowes 3/5, McNamara 3/45,466
 28 February 1998Cup5thCastleford TigersAThe JungleL21–26Calland, Lowes, Peacock, SpruceLowes 1/2, McNamara 1/2, McNamara 1 DG10,283

Playoffs

LEGEND
 width=100Win
 width=100Draw
 width=100Loss

1998 squad statistics

width=3%Nowidth=47%Playerwidth=15%PositionTriesGoalsDGPoints
1Robbie PaulFullbackalign=centre10align=centre0align=centre0align=centre40
2Tevita VaikonaWingalign=centre13align=centre0align=centre0align=centre52
3Graeme BradleyCentrealign=centre11align=centre0align=centre0align=centre44
4Abi EkokuCentrealign=centre2align=centre0align=centre0align=centre8
5Jon ScalesWingalign=centre4align=centre0align=centre0align=centre16
6Danny PeacockStand Offalign=centre5align=centre0align=centre0align=centre20
8Neil HarmonPropalign=centre1align=centre0align=centre0align=centre4
9Kevin CrouthersHookeralign=centre1align=centre0align=centre0align=centre4
10Nathan GrahamFullbackalign=centre1align=centre0align=centre1align=centre5
11Jeremy DonougherSecond Rowalign=centre3align=centre0align=centre0align=centre12
12Paul MedleySecond Rowalign=centre1align=centre0align=centre0align=centre4
13Sonny NickleLoose forwardalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
14Mike ForshawLoose forwardalign=centre7align=centre0align=centre0align=centre28
15Paul AndersonPropalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
16Warren JowittPropalign=centre1align=centre0align=centre0align=centre4
17Nathan McAvoyWingalign=centre1align=centre0align=centre0align=centre4
19Harvey HowardPropalign=centre1align=centre0align=centre0align=centre4
20Matt CallandCentrealign=centre7align=centre0align=centre0align=centre28
22Brian McDermottPropalign=centre6align=centre0align=centre0align=centre24
23Bernard DwyerHookeralign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
24Paul DeaconScrum-halfalign=centre4align=centre4align=centre0align=centre24
25James LowesHookeralign=centre9align=centre4align=centre0align=centre44
26Steve McNamaraLoose forwardalign=centre1align=centre81align=centre4align=centre170
27Tahi ReihanaPropalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
28Stuart SpruceFullbackalign=centre8align=centre0align=centre0align=centre32
29Stuart FieldenPropalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
30Andy HodgsonCentrealign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
32Michael BanksPropalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
33Leon PryceWingalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
36Simon KnoxLoose forwardalign=centre0align=centre0align=centre0align=centre0
47Shaun EdwardsScrum-halfalign=centre5align=centre0align=centre0align=centre20

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