 Newton grabs Bradford's first try before the hosts run riot at Odsal |
Bradford: (12) 40
Tries: Harris, Morrison, Newton, Vagana, Solomona, Halley, McAvoy
Goals: Harris 6Catalans (8) 8
Tries: Fellous
Goals: Jones 2
Bradford ran in five second-half tries to ease past a lacklustre Catalans side and boost their slim hopes of securing second spot in the Super League table.
Adel Fellous had handed the Dragons the early lead but tries from Terry Newton and Glenn Morrison turned it around.
Iestyn Harris went on to score 16 points, with further tries from Newton, Joe Vagana, David Solomona, Dave Halley and Nathan McAvoy sealing an easy win.
It means the Bulls must beat Hull and hope Leeds lose to Wakefield next week.
But the hosts had to come from behind after Fellous collected Luke Quigley's short pass to go over and add to Stacey Jones's penalty.
The lead could have been bigger had Clint Greenshields' effort not being ruled out for crossing by referee Ben Thaler, but instead Bradford slipped into gear with two crucial tries before the break.
Terry Newton crossed from dummy half, then five minutes later his reverse pass gave Glenn Morrison enough space to burrow his way through under the posts.
With Paul Deacon withdrawn from the starting line-up just before the game due to injury, Harris took over goal-kicking responsibility and put in a faultless display with six successful kicks.
He also set McAvoy for a try with a neat chip and crossed himself, with Dave Halley and Joe Vagana completing the scoring.
McAvoy's score was of particular relief to the winger, who will be released by the Bulls at the end of the campaign, as he avoided a naked run around Odsal's pitch - the traditional punishment for any Bradford player who fails to touch down during an entire season.
Bradford coach Steve McNamara:
"They needed poking with a stick at half-time, but we're a tired side. The fall-out from the Leeds game last week was huge and you saw that with the Leeds performance on Friday night (the Rhinos lost 17-6 against Hull). "We were a tired team in the first half but we dragged ourselves out of it in the second half.
"It was important we scored enough points to really put some pressure on the Rhinos."
Catalans' coach Mick Potter on Stacey Jones, who was making his last appearance in the UK:
"That (the pre-match standing ovation) was good of the fans here. He's been a very good player in the rugby league world and it was a really good touch for Stacey to see the grandstand get up on its feet for him.
"We've performed a little better than last year, but our consistency still lets us down."
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