Bradford coach Steve McNamara praised Simon Finnigan after the debutant scored two tries during the 38-12 win against Huddersfield.
Bradford coach optimistic after win over Huddersfield
Bradford Bulls coach Steve McNamara heaped praise on Simon Finnigan after the debutant scored two tries during the 38-12 victory over Huddersfield Giants.
Finnigan, who was left out of the squad for the Bulls' opening defeat at Wakefield, came off the bench after 17 minutes and scored with his first touch.
The former Widnes and Salford back rower added a second from close range just before half-time as Bradford ensured there was no repeat of last weekend's surprise result.
"He got left out of the squad last week but he responded very well," said McNamara. "He took his opportunity with both hands.
"He is a fantastic support player and complements some of the things we are good at."
Improved
McNamara was delighted with the response of his side following the Wakefield defeat.
"We under-performed last week but I thought there was enough to suggest we would be a reasonable side by the time the season finishes and tonight backed that up," he added.
"We made lots of errors and gave away too many penalties last week and tonight we didn't. That was the difference."
Huddersfield coach Jon Sharp believes the final scoreline did not accurately reflect his team's performance.
The Giants, who scored a try either side of half-time through Luke Robinson and Paul Whatuira, have now lost their opening two games of the season to rekindle memories of last year's campaign when they lost their first seven before an upturn in form allowed them to reach the play-offs for the first time.
"I'm obviously disappointed with the scoreline in the end," said Sharp. "It was certainly a closer contest than the scoreline suggests.
"We really improved on last week's performance. We showed a bit more patience and were in an arm wrestle with a very good team for large parts of the game. It's a matter of doing it for 80 minutes.
"We have conceded too many points in the first two games and that is something we need to address. We pride ourselves on our defence."
