2025 Season Review: Bradford Bulls

Bringing ‘Bullmania’ back.

The Bulls will make a long awaited return to the Super League in 2026 – an era which the club has so much history in as four-time Super League champions, as well as treble-winners in 2003.

But how did they perform in 2025?

Under the guidance of the one and only Brian Noble in his second stint as head coach at the club, Bradford finished third in the Betfred Championship and looked like they would have a tilt at the Grand Final.

However, a second half fight back from Toulouse Olympique saw them knocked out in the Semi-Final stages as history frustratingly went on to repeat itself.

Interestingly, an early highlight in the season came in Round Three of the 2025 Betfred Challenge Cup. The Bulls hosted Super League opposition Castleford Tigers at Bartercard Odsal Stadium in wild weather conditions, and managed to grind out a closely fought contest to progress into Round Four - encapsulating the magic of the cup competition.

In the Championship, the West Yorkshire side made a mixed start with two victories to start the campaign, before two consecutive defeats to Toulouse and Barrow Raiders.

They then kept a decent level of consistency along the way, before turning it up a gear in the later stages of the season.

Throughout the year, ex-Super League backs Waqa Blake and Jayden Okunbor provided threats on the edges, along with Kieran Gill and Guy Armitage, whilst James Meadows and Joe Keyes pulled the strings in the halves.

A versatile Jordan Lilley was never too far from the action either, and veteran Michael Lawrence was there to lead and inspire his teammates from the front.

Bradford went on to end the season strongly, with seven wins in their last eight regular season matches.

This saw them in good confidence as they defeated Featherstone Rovers in the Eliminators, before eventually slipping to defeat in France. 

They are a familiar face in top flight, and it's been a long old wait for the Bradford faithful to see their side back in the big time - eleven years to be exact - but it's a wait that is finally over.

Preparations and recruitment have been in full swing at the Bulls for 2026, and everyone is excited to see what lies ahead as we welcome back a former Super League giant...