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 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 included to by three penalty objectives by Rowan Milnes for a 24-0 lead at half-time.
Quickfire scores from Solomona Faataape and Toby Sexton threatened a spectacular Dragons resurgence in the second half.
But Blake scored again to protect a famous win for the Bulls at Odsal Stadium.
Bradford took an early lead through Ackers, who weaved in the past powering over the line from close quarters after Joe Mellor kept the relocation alive.
Milnes kicked 2 charges from under the sticks inside 22 minutes, penalizing a string of errors by the Dragons.
The visitors were rejected by a no-try call when Iszac Fa'asuamaleaui believed he had actually scored on the line, however the video referee supported the decision, ruling that he had not touched the ball down.
It proved to be a crucial moment as Milnes included a third charge goal before Blake raced away after a swift team move from right to delegated score the Bulls' 2nd try.
Aekins then darted through a space left by the Catalans' front row for a third try.
Three minutes after the break, the Dragons were offered a gift when Ethan Ryan's was caught by Faataape, who could not believe his luck as he ran in to score.
The momentum was with the visitors, and another Bradford error, this time from Aekins, was punished as Sexton reviewed, however his conversion effort went large to leave the deficit at 14 points.
Ryan nearly made amends for his error by catching a long Milnes kick inside the Catalans' half before setting Esan Marsters away, but the video referee prohibited the try, ruling that Ryan had actually been dealt with during the play.
Blake included his 2nd shot moments later on after Ryan integrated with Milnes to top an outstanding success.
Bradford progress pleases Haggerty - response
Bradford Bulls head coach Kurt Haggerty informed BBC Radio Leeds:
"I actually enjoyed the very first half. I truly enjoyed parts of the second half, particularly defensively.
"We were truly careless with the ball in the 2nd half, but I liked how we turned Catalans away. We demonstrated how fit we are ... and how far we have been available in a short area of time.
"The belief of the group is really crucial, we have actually got another hard video game [meeting Toulouse], it's week to week this. You can't just peak since we've got a great crowd at Odsal.
"We'll definitely will not enjoy, we'll deal with 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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