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 sensational Dragons comeback in the second half.


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


Bradford took an early lead through Ackers, who weaved before powering over the line from after Joe Mellor kept the move alive.


Milnes kicked two charges from under the sticks inside 22 minutes, penalizing 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, however the video referee supported the choice, ruling that he had not touched the ball down.


It proved to be a crucial minute as Milnes added a 3rd penalty objective before Blake raced away after a quick team relocation from right to delegated score the Bulls' 2nd shot.


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


Three minutes after the break, the Dragons were given a present when Ethan Ryan's loose pass was struck on 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 punished as Sexton discussed, however his conversion effort went broad 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 shot, ruling that Ryan had been taken on during the play.


Blake added his second try minutes later on after Ryan combined with Milnes to top an outstanding victory.


Bradford progress pleases Haggerty - reaction


Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty informed BBC Radio Leeds:


"I actually took pleasure in the very first half. I really delighted 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 revealed how fit we are ... and how far we have can be found in a brief space of time.


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


"We'll certainly will not enjoy, we'll attend to the second 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