Blake Scores Twice As Bradford Beat Catalans

20 February 2026


Bradford (24) 28


Tries: Ackers, Blake (2 ), Aekins Goals: Milnes (6 )


Catalans (0) 10


Tries: Faataape, Sexton Goals: Sexton


Bradford Bulls marked their very first Super League home match for 12 years with an emphatic 28-10 win over Catalans Dragons.


Converted attempts from Andy Ackers, Waqa Blake and Caleb Aekins were included to by three charge goals by Rowan Milnes for a 24-0 lead at half-time.


Quickfire scores from Solomona Faataape and Toby Sexton threatened a stunning Dragons resurgence in the second half.


But Blake scored again to secure a popular win for the Bulls at Odsal Stadium.


Bradford took an early lead through Ackers, who weaved in the past powering over the line from close quarters after Joe Mellor kept the relocation alive.


Milnes kicked 2 penalties from under the sticks inside 22 minutes, punishing a string of mistakes by the Dragons.


The visitors were denied by a no-try call when Iszac Fa'asuamaleaui thought he had scored on the line, but the video referee upheld the decision, ruling that he had not touched the ball down.


It proved to be an essential minute as Milnes included a 3rd penalty objective before Blake raced away after a quick team move from right to delegated score the Bulls' second shot.


Aekins then darted through a space left by the Catalans' front row for a third try.


Three minutes after the break, the were provided a gift when Ethan Ryan's loose pass was attacked on by Faataape, who could not think his luck as he ran in to score.


The momentum was with the visitors, and another Bradford error, this time from Aekins, was penalized as Sexton reviewed, but his conversion attempt went large to leave the deficit at 14 points.


Ryan nearly apologized for his mistake by capturing a long Milnes kick inside the Catalans' half before setting Esan Marsters away, however the video referee disallowed the shot, ruling that Ryan had been dealt with during the play.


Blake included his second shot moments later on after Ryan combined with Milnes to cap an excellent triumph.


Bradford development pleases Haggerty - response


Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:


"I really delighted in the very first half. I really took pleasure in parts of the second half, particularly defensively.


"We were actually careless with the ball in the 2nd half, but I liked how we turned Catalans away. We demonstrated how fit we are ... and how far we have actually can be found in a brief area of time.


"The belief of the group is really important, we've got another difficult video game [coming up against Toulouse], it's week to week this. You can't simply peak because we have actually got a good crowd at Odsal.


"We'll definitely won't be delighted, we'll address the 2nd half, we'll fix it."


Bradford: Aekins; Wynne, Marsters, Blake, Ryan; Hooley, Milnes; Sutton, Ackers, Lewis, Chamberlain, Fulton, Mellor.


Interchanges: Souter, Scurr, Doro, Peposhi.


Catalans: Staines; Makinson, Cotric, Faataape, Simm; Sexton, Dodd; Satae, Da Costa, Navarrete, Lipowicz, Condon, Leeming.


Interchanges: Fa'asuamaleaui, Allen, Lis, Chan.


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20 February