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 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 contributed to by 3 penalty objectives by Rowan Milnes for a 24-0 lead at half-time.


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


But Blake scored once again to secure a well-known win for the Bulls at Odsal Stadium.


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


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


The visitors were rejected by a no-try call when Iszac Fa'asuamaleaui thought he had scored on the line, however the video referee supported the choice, ruling that he had actually not touched the ball down.


It showed to be a key minute as Milnes added a 3rd charge objective before Blake raced away after a swift team move from right to left to score the Bulls' second try.


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


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


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


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


Blake included his 2nd shot moments later after Ryan combined with Milnes to cap an outstanding success.


Bradford development pleases Haggerty - reaction


Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:


"I truly enjoyed the first half. I actually took pleasure in parts of the 2nd half, especially defensively.


"We were actually sloppy with the ball in the second half, however I liked how we turned Catalans away. We revealed how fit we are ... and how far we have actually been available in a short space of time.


"The belief of the group is truly crucial, we've got another hard video game [meeting Toulouse], it's week to week this. You can't simply peak due to the fact that we have actually got an excellent crowd at Odsal.


"We'll definitely won't be delighted, we'll resolve the second 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