Round One of the new season gets underway tonight and in Friday’s live televised fixture, the Bradford Bulls travel to the Galpharm Stadium taking on the Huddersfield Giants in this West Yorkshire Derby (Sky Sports 1, 8pm).
The Giants were impressive last season; they finished third in the table, made a well deserved appearance in the Challenge Cup Final, and so will be hoping that they can continue where they left off last season. Bradford on the other hand had a season to forget. They finished 9th last year and missed out on the playoffs, something that they have never done before.
Last season Bradford took the spoils in this encounter in a comfortable 28 – 18 win and it could very well be the same again this time around. Nathan Brown will be looking to Super League’s 2009 Man of Steel Brett Hodgson for inspiration and is currently 14/1 (Totesport, Ladbrokes) to score the 1st try of the match. Steve McNamara has bolstered his squad with a few captures, the most respectable being in the form of scrum-half Matt Orford, who was outstanding in Manly’s World Club Challenge win over Leeds last year and he could well prove the playmaker in this fixture aswell (22/1 to score 1st William Hill,5/2 to score anytime Skybet).
The handicap is currently trading on Bradford with a +4 start (various, +6 evens at VC) and we here at Puntinplay believe this is where the value lies. Huddersfield have a lot to live up to if last season is anything to go by but they do have the squad to do this, but Bradford have a bigger point to prove showing that they are still one of the top sides in Super League.
