Toovey: Points deduction has weighed heavily on the players

New Bradford boss Geoff Toovey says his players have struggled to deal with the pressure of trying to wipe out their twelve point deficit in the Championship this season.

The Bulls’ 28-14 defeat at Rochdale on Sunday left them rooted to the foot of the table on minus two points and Toovey believes his team need to regain parity as soon as possible.

“It was a very interrupted game and it was very hot, but I think that the stoppages in play really suited the opposition but there was way too many errors by ours guys again,” he told the club’s official website.

“It’s been like that for the last couples of months. We conceded some very soft tries that gave them a bit of a sniff and they came out revitalised after the break.

“I don’t think the fitness was that bad at all, but the try before half-time killed us.

“With the second try, it all came down to a missed tackle, nothing to it and they just went straight through.

“That’s the way it is in rugby league, you miss a tackle and they go straight through, you pay the price. The first try was just five blokes, they held him up but he got the ball down.

“A bit of panic set in with the situation that the club has been in and the players have been under in during the past couple of months to try and get that negative two off our backs. I think it has really weighed heavily on them and set the panic in.

“I think after the first part of the game we were unlucky not to be 24-0 at one stage, but we just butchered our chances and conceded soft tries. Once they got a sniff, we let them come back into the game.”