Bradford Bulls 6 Wigan Warriors 36: Wigan burst Bradford’s bubble with first-half romp

Bulls coach Francis Cummins dubbed yesterday’s game a yardstick to measure his team’s play-off prospects and he will now be acutely aware of the size of the task after suffering a first defeat in four matches in such emphatic fashion.

Full-back Sam Tomkins took over as Super League’s leading tryscorer with his 14th of the season but it was Farrell who must have caught the eye of Parramatta recruitment manager Peter Nolan who was reportedly at the game to watch Lee Mossop ahead of finalising a deal for the prop and his England team-mate Gareth Hock.

The star-studded Wigan pack quickly established dominance to enable half-backs Matty Smith and Blake Green to run the show and the game was over as a contest by half-time when the visitors led 30-0. Bradford failed miserably to make use of the stiff breeze at their backs and, in fact, little went right for them from the moment Green’s grubber kick rebounded off Elliott Whitehead into the grateful arms of Farrell for his first try after only nine minutes.

The ever-dangerous Green dummied his way over for Wigan’s second try five minutes later and Richards’ second goal made it 12-0.

Bradford finally weathered the visitors’ early storm but could not seriously trouble the best defence in Super League before the break.

It was no surprise when centre Jack Hughes took skipper Sean O’Loughlin’s pass to go over for his side’s third try on 27 minutes and, although the introduction of Luke Gale added potency to Bradford’s attack, their defence was cracked twice more in the last five minutes of the first half.

Farrell seized on a fumble by Brett Kearney to claim his second try and left Jamie Langley and Adam Sidlow grasping at thin air moments later to complete his hat-trick.

Wigan began the second half in the same vein, with Tomkins racing onto Smith’s kick for a try within 90 seconds of the re-start and Richards kicked his sixth goal from as many attempts.

The Bulls finally opened their account after 52 minutes when half-back Jarrod Sammutt collected Gale’s lofted kick to register his 14th try of the season and also kicked the conversion.

That spurred Bradford to produce their best rugby of the match but they had left themselves too much to do and they finished the game with 12 men when Whitehead was sin-binned for repeated team offences.

Cummins said: “I’m not too disheartened. Wigan will do this against other teams. I’ve told the boys we’ve just got to start again. We will be better for it.”

Bradford: Kearney, Kear, Purtell, Lulia, Platt, Addy, Sammut, Scruton, Diskin, Manuokafoa, Walker, Whitehead, Donaldson. Substitutes: Gale, L’Estrange, Langley, Sidlow.

Wigan: S. Tomkins, Charnley, Thornley, Hughes, Richards, Green, Smith, Crosby, McIlorum, Mossop, Farrell, Burke, O’Loughlin. Substitutes: Hansen, Taylor, Dudson, L. Tomkins.

Referee: T Roby (RFL).