INTERVIEW | BRIAN NOBLE

Read the thoughts of Brian Noble following his appointment as head coach of the Bradford Bulls this evening...

On his excitement at the challenge ahead…

I am excited, I’ve been a part of what’s been going on behind the scenes for 18 months and you have to say we’re on an upward trajectory. There’s lots that has been done but there’s lots still to do and we need to be careful because there’s lots to lose as well, that’s the reality of it all. I’m very excited, I’ve worked with some good people and right from jumping in initially, I am extremely excited about the position the Bulls find themselves in and I can’t wait to play a part in it.

On how the club has progressed since his return as a Consultant in 2022…

Nigel Wood and Jason have been my contact people and everything they said that's going to happen, pretty much has and the feel around the place is a little bit like the old times. I've been part and parcel of the Bradford club in the Northern form and the Bulls form since 1978 and I've seen the euphoric times, and I've seen the not so good times and the not so good times from afar and the only reason I came back, if you like, to help out initially, just with a little bit of advice, was on the back of trying to get the Bradford bulls back to the Super League. That's my only mission. That's my only dream, for that normally, for the people of Bradford, but for the club itself. And so it's, it's both an honour and a privilege to try and, you know, to keep trying, to pass on the information that I think will help the football side of things in that respect. But behind the scenes, it's a very vibrant, very exciting journey to be on. At the moment, I think every department in the club is working really, really hard, and, more importantly, with smiles on their faces whilst they're doing it, which makes for a great working environment.

On the club being ready to take the next step… 

Well, it's only reason I agree to take part. I don't believe in doing anything that doesn't have an element of ambition and doesn't have an element of reward at the end of it for everybody. And you can only make the steps you can make with some of the financial constraints that are necessary. You know you can't be reckless and you can't be flamboyant in what you're doing, but it's been well planned. It's been well thought out. I think there's some energy and enthusiasm around the place, the only reason I'm here is that the Bradford Bulls get back into Super League. 

On what is needed to make the next step…. 

Well, first and foremost, any club needs to keep their horses healthy and have that element of you can call it what you want. You can call it luck if it is that, you can call it good management. You can call it all of the things that you need to keep the best players on deck most of the time. We've cobbled together a season last year, which was on the back of the support from behind the scenes of keeping us competitive and recruiting. We used far too many players, 45 players, so the element of stability I'm talking about is that we can get a good team out there every week have competition for places within the squad, so the players understand they have to play for the position, and also excite the crowd with some of the style of play that we play and also the teams that we're going to be playing, because the championship for all our fans will know this is a tough division, but I genuinely believe that  we're recruiting in the right manner, we're getting the right people that will both entertain and work hard, and then it's about giving them some simple direction as to how we approach every game. The preseason is important. Last year we lost an exceptional physiotherapist and an exceptional conditioner, and we had to pick them up. When we did that, we picked up through the year and managed to get ourselves in a position where we did get to another major semifinal. And unfortunately, on the day, I don't think we played that well. But, you know, we showed the intention there, and the intention of the board, and Nigel and Jason that has reinforced that now we thought it would be Eamon, a lot of the recruitment has been done on the back of, you know, supporting Eamon. We didn't know a few weeks ago, that he wasn't going to be with us. So one of my jobs now is stability around the joint and making sure that we're still progressing. So progression is massively important, and to progress on what we've done two thirds has to be a second or a first or a cup competition where we're in the final. Just show more intention for our fans, that we want to get to big occasions and we want to be in the big show, which is clearly Super League.

On the benefits of continuity having worked with a strong core of the playing group in 2025…

Yeah, I agree with that. I think continuity and stability are good things when you're trying to make progress, but there's still a lot of work to be done. As I said, in my initial comments we have to improve in a lot of areas, and fans aren't stupid. I've known Bradford fans for 30 years now or longer, and they'll understand, if we're making progress, they'll understand what they won't see is a team that doesn't have effort, and I think that's the first criteria for any team, putting your effort in, 100% effort pretty much every week, is on demand. If a team comes up and plays better than you on the day, then you can live with that. So I can live with that as well. 

On the importance of as many supporters as possible backing the Bulls next year…

It's number one for me. I'm a Bradfordian, and I walk through the streets of Bradford and I speak to lots and lots and lots of people who were passionate about the club, and talk about the halcyon days of previous years. Well, I think the days are now. So if you've been a bulls fan before and you're not there, please consider coming back. If you're a bradfordian and you're proud of your rugby club, as we all should be, then come and watch, see what we've got to offer and see what we can do. I'd really, really like us to add the Bradford army that was swelling and swelling from last year and it needs to be bigger for lots of reasons, they'll be entertained, and we'll have some good times, as well as the tough times. But that's all about. Being a fan is brilliant.