Bradford Bulls coach Kurt Haggerty has admitted he is looking in the transfer market for possible reinforcements after confirming another big injury blow.
The Bulls made it back-to-back home victories after a deserved triumph over Toulouse to ensure they ended the weekend inside the competition’s top four.
But there was a notable absence pre-match, with young impact forward Ebon Scurr out of action due to an undisclosed injury problem.
And that problem was confirmed by Haggerty post-match as a serious hamstring tear which will rule the prop out for at least six weeks, dealing Bradford another big injury issue to contend with.
They are already without the likes of Jayden Okunbor and Dan Russell for a lengthy periods after injuries suffered on the opening night at Hull FC. Star half-back Jayden Nikorima is recovering from a calf problem, while Joe Keyes is also unavailable.
And now, Scurr is the latest player to be ruled out for an extended period.
“Ebon will be out for six weeks with a hamstring tear, we’ll lose him for six weeks,” Haggerty told the media after the Toulouse win on Sunday afternoon.
The Bulls only named a 20-man squad this week, and they already have one of the smaller squads in Super League. That has left Haggerty admitting they have no option but to look around for reinforcements – but none will arrive in time for next weekend’s trip to St Helens on Saturday.
When asked if he was in the market for new recruits, Haggerty said: “I’ve been looking, but I was looking when I was healthy because we’ve a relatively small squad. That process will be ongoing.”
Haggerty admitted the win over Toulouse was ‘long’ and ‘scrappy’ owing to a number of stoppages, but paid credit to his side for grinding out a result.
“Long, scrappy and messy,” he smiled when asked to sum the game up. “But it’s good to come out of the other side with a win. We showed a version of our defence in which we were resilient and tough – and we’re delighted with it.”