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 ratings from Solomona Faataape and Toby Sexton threatened a spectacular Dragons comeback in the second half.


But Blake scored once 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 range after Joe Mellor kept the move alive.


Milnes kicked two 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 actually scored on the line, but the video referee upheld the decision, ruling that he had not touched the ball down.


It showed to be a crucial moment as Milnes included a 3rd charge goal before Blake raced away after a swift team relocation from right to left to score the Bulls' 2nd shot.


Aekins then darted through a gap left by the Catalans' front row for a 3rd shot.


Three minutes after the break, the Dragons were offered a present when Ethan Ryan's loose pass was struck on by Faataape, who could not think his luck as he ran in to rating.


The momentum was with the visitors, and another Bradford mistake, this time from Aekins, was punished as Sexton went over, however his conversion effort went large to leave the deficit at 14 points.


Ryan almost apologized for his mistake by catching a long Milnes kick inside the Catalans' half before setting Esan Marsters away, however the video referee disallowed the try, ruling that Ryan had actually been tackled throughout the play.


Blake added his 2nd shot minutes later after Ryan combined with Milnes to top an excellent triumph.


Bradford development pleases Haggerty - reaction


head coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:


"I truly enjoyed 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 second half, but I liked how we turned Catalans away. We showed how fit we are ... and how far we have actually come in a short area of time.


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


"We'll certainly will not be pleased, we'll attend to the 2nd half, we'll repair 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