Bradford Bulls will take on Castleford Tigers in round six of Super League, and one man expected to have a huge influence in that game is Jayden Nikorima.
The Bulls half-back returned from injury to make his club debut last week against Huddersfield, after being one of many players to join the Odsal outfit from Salford Red Devils.
Scoring two tries and assisting another, Nikorima’s debut couldn’t have gone any better, and he provided an excellent attacking threat that saw Bradford earn their third win of the league season.
The former Catalans Dragons man will be hoping to continue that form as he looks to become one of the focal points of the Bulls side, and assistant boss Lee Greenwood has sang the praises of the 29-year-old ahead of the clash with the Tigers.
Speaking in a press conference this week, Greenwood said: “We see [his talent] anyway and that’s why he was signed in the first place. He was only showing there what people have seen already in his career.
“It was obviously nice for him to do it straight away in his first game back. As it turns out, he comes in and we lose Rowan that week as well, so I think they’ve played something like 20 minutes together in a friendly or something.
“It would be nice to have both of them out on the field together, but I thought as the game wore on he really grew into it. The spaces started opening up and then you saw his biggest threat, which is his running game. Obviously, there’s some great pieces of magic towards the end.”
Bradford face another underperforming side this week too, with Castleford going into the game off the back of a 72-6 humbling from Warrington Wolves.
On tonight’s opponents, Greenwood explained: “This one’s a bit different. Obviously, they had a poor result at the weekend. They will want a reaction, but before that they’ve been really competitive.
“They’ve won a game or two, but we’ve watched them against Leeds and against Wigan in Round 1. They’re really competitive for large parts. It’s a different type of game. It’s away from home and we’re looking for a first away win.”
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Bradford Bulls coach explains Wakefield Trinity loanee exit
One man who featured in the victory last week was Wakefield forward, Tray Lolesio, who joined the club at a time where Bradford had very few bodies, especially in the pack.
The Trinity man came off the bench in the win, but he will not be returning for a second week in the Bulls set-up, with Greenwood explaining why.
He said: “Tray was just a one week. We were in a bit of a spot last week where we were struggling to name a 17 so we brought Tray in just to cover there and he ended up doing a good job for us.
“We have a couple of bodies back now, Loghan Lewis coming back from suspension so we have enough there not to need Tray.”
