Cummins eyes settled Bulls side

Bradford assistant coach Francis Cummins says it’s vital that they can field a settled side, following the arrival of Ben Jeffries last weekend.

The Bulls have been hampered by injuries throughout their squad this season, meaning they’ve had to field a different team in virtually every match this season.

Jeffries’ arrival coincides with a hamstring injury to Australian scrum-half Marc Herbert, but Cummins hopes that they can soon gel as a unit.

He said: “If you look at our side we haven’t been able to put the same thirteen out in any game.  You do need that relationship in the halves, particularly when we have a large group of players coming together, as we did but we seem to start getting combinations going and then we get injuries. It’s almost like starting again then.

“It would be nice to get on a run where we could get a settled side and work together with that bunch.”

Bradford face Hull KR on Sunday without Herbert, while former Rovers man Chev Walker is a long-term injury victim and will miss out. Michael Platt is also a doubt with a dead leg.

Cummins added: “We just have to deal with it like other teams have to. We all go through it at some stage but we seem to have a lot right now.

“It’s a difficult place to go and the way they play – they try and keep you at one end of the field and they have done that to some very good teams this year – makes it hard for any visiting side.

“They have got some very good halves and a good pack but we really need to up our game and really deliver what we have been practising.  That’s the most frustrating thing for us.  We have not come anywhere near that so we have not reached our potential at all.”