Dewsbury Rams and Bradford Bulls hope to start their season’s with a win as they face each other in the curtain raiser

An all-West Yorkshire clash starts the Championship season for Dewsbury Rams and Bradford Bulls as the two sides go head-to-head at the Tetley’s Stadium.

Both sides will be looking to improve on their positions last year. The Rams finished 10th last year, 10 points off the play-offs. The Bulls finished inside the play-offs in fifth spot but were beaten by Batley Bulldogs in the eliminator fixture.

This season, Dewsbury will be hoping to mount a play-off charge with the Bulls also hoping for the same outcome as they aim to reach the Super League.

The home side have played Super League opposition in Huddersfield Giants and Hull Kingston Rovers during pre-season falling to defeat in both.

The Bulls have had an inconsistent pre-season winning in just one of their games with the win coming against Hull FC. In the other pre-season games, the Bulls were beaten which includes a defeat to fierce rivals Leeds Rhinos.

Dewsbury have had a host of new signings over the off-season period including Owen Harrison from Hull KR and young starlet Callum Turner from Castleford Tigers.

Bradford have also made a host of new signings which include Dec Patton from Warrington Wolves and Kieran Gill from Newcastle Thunder.

Team News

Dewsbury Rams Head Coach Lee Greenwood may hand debuts to his host of new signings including Turner and Harrison. He will also hope players handed new deals like Jimmy Beckett and Keenan Tomlinson can build on from last year and help the Rams this season.

Bradford Bulls Head Coach John Kear may hand Patton and Gill their competitive debuts on Sunday. He could also hand Jordan Baldwinson, Ryan Millar, Sam Scott, AJ Wallace and loanee duo Corey Johnson and Muizz Mustapha their competitive debuts for the club as well.

Aaron Murphy and Ebon Scurr miss out after knocks sustained in last week’s clash with Rhinos. Jordan Lilley and Elliot Hall also miss out with long term injuries but are stepping up their rehabilitation.

Head to head

Last season the Bulls got the better of the Rams and secured a 35-14 win at the Tetley’s Stadium with Brad England, Ross Oakes, Danny Brough and Joe Brown all scoring for the Bulls.

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