Wildcats v Bulls: Teams
Wakefield welcome Bradford, and former Wildcat Ben Jeffries, to Belle Vue on Sunday afternoon.
Last Updated: 08/02/08 12:22pm
Wakefield welcome Bradford, and former Wildcat Ben Jeffries, to Belle Vue on Sunday afternoon.
The two teams face each other on the opening weekend for the second time in three years, the Bulls winning their 2006 round one encounter 20-14.
Wildcats coach John Kear has a new-look line-up for 2008 and several recruits are likely to make their debuts this weekend.
He has had to find a replacement for scrum-half Jeffries, who has moved on to Odsal after five years with Wakefield.
Brad Drew, who can also play at hooker, and Danny Brough could both fill the void after joining in the off-season from Huddersfield and Castleford respectively.
Former London Bronco Tony Martin is back in Super League and likely to start in the centres with Jason Demetriou possibly switching to loose forward.
However Damien Blanch, another new signing by Kear, will have to wait a little longer to play for Wakefield due to a shoulder injury. Joe Hirst (knee) is also ruled out.
Injured Bulls
Bradford will have to do without injured duo David Solomona and Semi Tadulala against the Wildcats.
While Solomona is sidelined with a knee injury, Tadulala, who like Jeffries joined the Bulls from Wakefield, is ruled out after breaking his cheekbone in a pre-season game against Wigan.
Coach Steve McNamara is likely to include new boys Paul Sykes, Wayne Godwin and Simon Finnigan in his 17-man line-up.
Godwin should start on the bench to act as back-up for first-choice hooker Terry Newton, a role he is not unfamiliar with as the pair played together at Wigan.
For Sykes it is a second stint as a Bradford player. He ironically made his debut for the club as a teenager against Wakefield back in 1999.
Wakefield squad: Blaymire, Martin, Atkins, Reilly, Rooney, Brough, Watene, Drew, Sculthorpe, Ferres, Demetriou, Obst , Bibey, Henderson, Wilkes, Leo-Latu, Grix, Ferguson, Moore, George.
Bradford squad: Morrison, Burgess, Sykes, Newton, Hape, Deacon, Evans, Halley, Nero, Cook, Vagana, James, Tupou, Platt, Harris, Godwin, Jeffries, Finnigan, Lynch, Langley.