{"id":552275,"date":"2026-04-26T21:41:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:41:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/552275\/"},"modified":"2026-04-26T21:41:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-26T21:41:12","slug":"bradford-bulls-coach-reveals-loan-snubs-as-duty-of-care-outlined-amid-injury-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/552275\/","title":{"rendered":"Bradford Bulls coach reveals loan snubs as \u2018duty of care\u2019 outlined amid injury crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty confirmed that several Super League clubs turned down loan approaches on account of a full slate of reserve fixtures, something that left the Bulls boss handing out a debut to an academy product in the club\u2019s 48-12 loss to Hull KR<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Jamie Gill was one of three players to make their Super League debut for the Bulls with ex-Hull FC man Will Gardiner returning from his long-term injury, whilst veteran winger Greg Eden was also signed on a short-term deal.<\/p>\n

Gill, 20, had been playing at Dewsbury Rams on loan before an ankle injury ruled him out but upon recovering and playing for the reserves, he was thrust into Saturday\u2019s Super League action against Hull KR.<\/p>\n

Over a dozen senior players are currently injured<\/a> for Bradford with the Bulls having just 15 available for training on Tuesday, and that saw Haggerty talk a lot about his past experience at Salford and the duty of care he must offer to protect players.<\/p>\n

Confirming no fresh injuries this week, Haggerty spoke post-match on BullsTV<\/a> about how difficult it can be to throw young players into such an environment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was really careful on this because you have an academy and reserves but I\u2019ve been at Salford when we were in the mess and you have to play players that shouldn\u2019t be playing at this level yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe detriment it has to that player and that group is so severe. You\u2019ve got to be so careful so to play Jamie, who has been playing at Dewsbury and against men, I was very comfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Gill\u2019s performance, Haggerty said: \u201cI thought Jamie Gill was brilliant. He stepped in and he looked competent, he was physically good. He carried the ball and did a little bit of damage in his carries so it\u2019s a really proud day for us as a club, and for Jamie and his family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wigan Warriors\u2019 worries, Hull FC drama and NRL takeover talk\u00a0\u2013\u00a0Click here to watch the latest episode of the Serious About Rugby League Show.<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Bradford Bulls couldn\u2019t add loan players<\/p>\n

One academy talent who was named in Bradford\u2019s initial 19-man squad but ultimately didn\u2019t play was Harvey Ward with Kurt Haggerty explaining his duty of care<\/a> to protect the youngster.<\/p>\n

The Bulls coach said: \u201cWe had no outside backs this week. If we wouldn\u2019t have signed Greg Eden then I would have probably had to play young Harvey Ward, who is not ready to play against men yet.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s on his own journey in the reserves so we\u2019d have been in a position where we\u2019d have really struggled and it\u2019s a duty of care for me to look after that player.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs much as we have the academy and reserves, it\u2019s my job and duty of care to make sure we put the right people in at the right times, and if I don\u2019t need to use them then I won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n

Something that was frustrating for the Bulls this past week was their inability to add any loanees from fellow Super League clubs, something that was a direct consequence of the reserves competition being in action.<\/p>\n

Haggerty confirmed: \u201cI think I\u2019ve spoken to maybe five or six clubs and they\u2019ve all had exactly the same narrative that \u2018you can have players next week but not for this week with the reserves playing\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I\u2019m perfectly honest, I don\u2019t fully understand because there\u2019s an opportunity for them to play Super League but every club is different. We\u2019ve dealt with the situation and we\u2019ve come away, I think, earning a bit of respect today.\u201d<\/p>\n

With no reserves game this coming week, the Bulls could be flooded with loan options but Haggerty said he doesn\u2019t expect too many additions whilst also admitting that he may have a couple of injured players returning.<\/p>\n

On loanees, he said: \u201cIf we can bring one or two in, I will look at it but if not we\u2019ve shown that whatever we put out there, we\u2019re going to have a crack.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for returnees, he admitted: \u201cI\u2019m not sure right now, maybe one or two but that would be a push where maybe they shouldn\u2019t play. But we may need them to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty confirmed that several Super League clubs turned down loan approaches on account…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":552276,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-552275","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=552275"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/552275\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/552276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=552275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=552275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=552275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}