Bradford Bulls half-back attracting interest from Championship rivals

Aaron Bower
Lee Gaskell Bradford Bulls

Bradford Bulls half-back Lee Gaskell could be set to leave the Championship club at the end of this season, with fellow second-tier clubs monitoring his situation, Love Rugby League has learned.

Gaskell’s contract at Odsal expires at the end of this season, and the Bulls are set to bolster their ranks in that department with the addition of another prominent ex-player, with Halifax’s Joe Keyes likely to switch across West Yorkshire for the 2025 season, as Love Rugby League revealed last week.

The Bulls are pushing ahead with their plans for next year, with further players from across the Championship – including Whitehaven’s Jake Maizen – in their sights.

And with players arriving, a number of high-profile names at Odsal are set to the depart at the end of this season: and Gaskell could well be among them, with interest rising in his position for next year.

Love Rugby League has been told Widnes Vikings are among the clubs who have expressed an interest in Gaskell, which would mark a move back closer to his roots in St Helens.

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Gaskell has enjoyed a fine career at the top of the sport. He broke into the St Helens team in 2010 and featured in a Grand Final barely a year later, playing in their defeat to Leeds Rhinos.

He later joined the Bulls before signing with Huddersfield Giants in 2017, spending five years with the West Yorkshire club before then moving to Wakefield Trinity.

However, last summer, he returned to Odsal to sign for the Bulls on a deal until the end of the 2024 season. That deal expires later this year and clubs are weighing up whether or not to make a move for the 33-year-old.

The Vikings have also been linked with a move for another ex-Super League half-back in recent days, former Warrington Wolves man Dec Patton, who is thriving at Swinton Lions.

And Gaskell is another player of interest to the Vikings, who are enjoying a fine season at the top end of the Championship.

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