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 tries from Andy Ackers, Waqa Blake and Caleb Aekins were contributed to by three penalty goals by Rowan Milnes for a 24-0 lead at half-time.
Quickfire scores from Solomona Faataape and Toby Sexton threatened a stunning Dragons return in the 2nd half.
But Blake scored again to protect a famous win for the Bulls at Odsal Stadium.
Bradford took an early lead through Ackers, who twisted and turned previously powering over the line from close range 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 believed he had actually scored on the line, but the video referee maintained the decision, ruling that he had not the ball down.
It proved to be a key moment as Milnes added a 3rd penalty goal before Blake raced away after a quick group relocation from right to left to score the Bulls' second try.
Aekins then darted through a gap left by the Catalans' front row for a third try.
Three minutes after the break, the Dragons were provided a gift when Ethan Ryan's loose pass was caught by Faataape, who might 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 reviewed, but his conversion effort went wide to leave the deficit at 14 points.
Ryan nearly apologized for his mistake by catching a long Milnes kick inside the Catalans' half before setting Esan Marsters away, but the video referee disallowed the shot, ruling that Ryan had actually been taken on throughout the play.
Blake included his second shot moments later after Ryan combined with Milnes to cap an impressive success.
Bradford development pleases Haggerty - response
Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty told BBC Radio Leeds:
"I truly took pleasure in the first half. I actually enjoyed parts of the second half, especially defensively.
"We were truly sloppy with the ball in the 2nd half, but I liked how we turned Catalans away. We showed how fit we are ... and how far we have come in a brief area of time.
"The belief of the group is really important, we've got another hard game [meeting Toulouse], it's week to week this. You can't simply peak due to the fact that we've got an excellent crowd at Odsal.
"We'll certainly will not enjoy, we'll address the second half, we'll repair 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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