Where Are They Now? Brian Noble’s last Bradford Bulls team in 2006 including Super League icons
Brian Noble (left) has once again taken the head coaching reins at Odsal ahead of 2025
It may only have been a friendly, but Brian Noble has taken charge of his first game back as Bradford Bulls’ head coach, beating Keighley Cougars 26-0 at Odsal on Sunday afternoon.
That got us trawling back through the history books to take a look at his last game in charge of the Bulls, and it came back in April 2006, the 18th to be exact.
On a Tuesday night at Odsal in front of 10,932 spectators, his team thumped Huddersfield Giants 52-18 in Round 10 of the Super League season. A few days later, he’d left the club to take the helm at Wigan Warriors.
With the veteran coach back in BD6, here’s a look at Noble‘s Bradford side from that evening against Huddersfield, and where they all are today…
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1. Michael Withers
Sydney-born Withers, now 48, was one of Bradford’s greatest overseas recruits. Winning a plethora of honours during his time at Odsal, he would follow Noble to Wigan in 2007 but would retire due to injury in June that year.
The four-time Ireland international returned to Australia to begin a coaching career, and having held various roles over the years, he’s now the head coach of Parramatta Eels’ women’s New South Wales Premiership side.
2. Marcus Bai
Bai was one of eight different try-scorers for Bradford in this game, with his four-pointer one of the last he scored in the British game.
Having joined the Bulls from Leeds Rhinos ahead of the 2006 campaign, the 14-time Papua New Guinea international retired at the end of that season. He’s now back in Port Moresby and is involved in business development.
3. Karl Pryce
Noble wasn’t the only departure from Bradford in 2006: Pryce – who grabbed a try here – would cross codes to join Gloucester after breaking through and making a real impact at Odsal, just like older brother Leon.
His time in union would be short-lived and he returned to league with Wigan, before a second stint at Odsal with Bradford and time in the capital with Harlequins. He finished his career with Dewsbury Rams in 2016 and now works locally in his native West Yorkshire.
4. Shontayne Hape
One of the classiest centres of the Super League era, Hape formed a devastating partnership alongside Lesley Vainikolo during Bradford’s glory years. He too scored a try in this game.
Hape crossed codes in 2008 to rugby union before retiring in 2013 after issues surrounding concussion. He has since begun life working in insurance in his native New Zealand.
5. Lesley Vainikolo
One of Super League’s real cult heroes, former Canberra Raiders man Vainikolo – born in the Tongan capital of Nukuʻalofa – scored a staggering 145 tries in 149 games during a glittering spell at Bradford before crossing codes to rugby union. Two of those tries came in this game.
Featuring for Gloucester, La Rochelle, Angerien, Tonga (7s) and England in union, the 45-year-old is now back working in New Zealand as the chief operating officer of a sportswear company.
6. Stanley Gene
PNG icon Gene spent just a sole season with Bradford in ’06, and only actually started five games, including this one. The 19-time Kumuls international rejoined Hull KR following his departure from Odsal, and had made a total of 349 appearances in the British game when he eventually hung up his boots in 201o.
Since then, he’s held various coaching roles, including as head coach of the PNG national team. Most recently though, he was an assistant to Tony Smith at Hull FC and remains in Yorkshire today.
7. Paul Deacon
Deacon – another try-scorer in this game – remains Bradford’s highest-appearance maker of the summer era having played 326 games in a Bulls shirt. He was one of several players who left the Bulls and made the switch to Wigan later in his career though, following the path Noble ultimately took as a coach when he linked up with the Warriors in 2010.
After a glittering at Odsal, he spent two seasons with the Cherry and Whites before retiring from playing. He has since gone into coaching and has become a mainstay on the coaching staff at Sale Sharks. It’s also worth noting he kicked eight of a possible one conversions in this game.
8. Stuart Fielden
Fellow try-scorer Fielden had established himself as a Bradford icon, making close to 250 appearances for the West Yorkshire outfit, but shocked the rugby league world with his move to Wigan in June 2006. Linking back up with Noble, the Warriors paid £450,000 for his services, which remains a Super League record to this day.
Extending his CV in terms of international honours during his time in the North West, Fielden eventually called time on his career at the end of the 2013 season due to a knee infection having spent a brief period with Huddersfield. He’s now a p
9. Terry Newton
16-time Great Britain international Newton also scored a try here during what was his first year as a Bradford player. The forward would remain at Odsal until the end of the 2009 season, surpassing 390 senior career appearances, when he joined Wakefield Trinity.
Newton’s time at Trinity was cut short by a failed drugs test, with his contract at Belle Vue canceled in February 2010. Tragically, he would take his own life in September that year aged 31.
10. Andy Lynch
Leeds-born powerhouse Lynch never stepped foot outside Yorkshire during a 19-year playing career which saw him represent just three different clubs. Also earning honours for both England and Great Britain, Bradford were the second of those clubs.
Eventually departing the Bulls at the end of the 2011 season, Lynch went on to feature for both Hull FC and Castleford, rounding off his career with a second stint in a Tigers shirt. Hanging up his boots in 2017, the 45-year-old moved Down Under and now works as a trainee operations manager for a kitchen and bathroom contractor.
11. Brett Ferres
Ferres is one of just two players from this team still playing today, almost 19 years later! The one-time Super League champion has had a long and distinguished career since breaking through as a promising player at Odsal.
Leaving Bradford at the end of the 2007 season, the 38-year-old has gone on to play for Wakefield, Castleford, Huddersfield, Leeds, Featherstone and Doncaster. And come 2025, he’ll don a shirt in League 1 for newcomers Goole Vikings.
12. Paul Johnson
The last try-scorer from this game on the Bulls’ team sheet is 13-time Great Britain international Johnson, who would leave Odsal at the end of the 2006 campaign. Born in Wigan, the versatile forward joined Warrington Wolves and also featured for both Wakefield and Crusaders before bringing the curtain down on his career.
Having represented Lancashire on four occasions, Johnson retired in 2011. He has gone on to occupy roles within the Strength & Conditioning/Performance departments of both Wigan Warriors and Leigh Leopards as well as running his own fitness business.
13. Jamie Langley
Normanton-born Langley served the Bulls with great distinction in a career which saw him spend well over a decade at Odsal, making 258 appearances for the club, which is the third-highest tally of the summer era.
Departing BD6 to join Hull KR at the end of the 2013 season, the 41-year-old eventually finished his career with Sheffield Eagles before moving into coaching. His CV included London Broncos and England’s Academy before a code-switch to join Sale Sharks as a defence coach, but come 2025 he’ll be back in league as one of Brad Arthur’s assistants at Leeds.
Bench
14. Joe Vagana
New Zealand and Samoa international Vagana arrived at Odsal in 2001. By the time he departed seven years later, he’d made 242 appearances for the West Yorkshire outfit, scored 19 tries and a sole goal – firmly establishing himself as a cult hero having scooped a plethora of major honours.
After retiring, Auckland native Vagana returned Down Under and coached in the Auckland Rugby League alongside his day job, which for the last 12 years or so has been as a training and development manager of a company whose aim is to ‘revolutionise the deconstruction industry via sustainable environmental practices and social outcomes’.
15. Craig Kopczak
38-year-old Kopczak is the second – and final – player on this teamsheet still playing today. This game was actually the former Wales skipper’s very first as a senior player! The 20-time international, who captained the Dragons during the 2013 Rugby League World Cup, left the Bulls on a permanent basis at the end of the 2012 campaign.
Having spent time on loan at Halifax Panthers while still a Bradford player, he’s gone on to don a shirt for Huddersfield, Salford, Wakefield and Featherstone as well as Oldham. And after helping Oldham to the League 1 title in 2024, he’ll square off against Noble’s side in the Championship next year.
16. Marcus St Hilaire
Huddersfield-born St Hilaire, who won two caps apiece for England and Ireland during a 16-year career, made 39 appearances for Bradford. Spending two seasons at Odsal, between 2006 and 2007, that’s the lowest tally of any of the four clubs he represented with Leeds, Huddersfield and Oldham the other three.
Scoring 14 tries in those 39 games, the versatile back joined the Roughyeds ahead of the 2008 campaign and rounded off his career with them, eventually hanging up his boots in 2011. With his 48th birthday coming up in January, St Hilaire now works in education as an inclusion support worker.
17. Ian Henderson
The younger brother of York chief Andrew, 41-year-old Ian was born in Torquay but moved to Australia as a youngster and began his rugby league career Down Under with Sydney Roosters. When he joined Bradford in 2005, they became the first club he’d represented in the British game.
Ultimately departing for the NRL and New Zealand Warriors in 2008, the seven-time Scotland international returned to Super League with Catalans Dragons three years later, but then rounded his career off back Down Under with the Roosters.
Calling time on his playing days after a leg break in 2016, the ex-hooker has popped up in various amateur coaching roles Down Under since then and was a pundit during the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup.
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