On the face of it, it is hard to be positive about a 42-12 league defeat.

But a depleted Bradford Bulls side, for all they made some costly errors, never gave in against a far-stronger Wakefield Trinity outfit in Friday night’s Betfred Championship opener, and by no means disgraced themselves.

A special tip of the hat has to go to teenage loanees Harvey Wilson and Lucas Green, who both played big minutes having only joined Bulls a couple of days prior.

Wigan prospect Wilson was one of the best players on the pitch for Bradford, with one sensational 40-metre run of his down the middle almost making it a try-scoring debut for the 19-year-old second row.

And with Green only due to be 18th man until Joe Arundel pulled out of contention due to his wife’s pregnancy on the morning of the game, the Warrington forward did a sterling job on his unexpected debut.

Bulls head coach Eamon O’Carroll, speaking to the T&A after the match, said: “They’ve done their clubs proud.

“The two of them are both great lads and they’re really happy to be here.

“I thought they put their best foot forward tonight, but it wasn’t just them either.

“There were some other individuals who did well, I thought it was a huge captain’s knock from Michael Lawrence for example.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: With Bulls chronically down on numbers, Michael Lawrence was forced into playing far more minutes than usual on Friday night.With Bulls chronically down on numbers, Michael Lawrence was forced into playing far more minutes than usual on Friday night. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

“He played 70-odd minutes straight and just kept turning up, but there’s more in there too.

“I can’t over-analyse it too much now immediately after the game, but certainly in terms of individuals, there were some real positives out there.”

As usual, one of the standout positives for Bulls was full back Aidan McGowan.

The Huddersfield loanee combined with Kieran Gill to score a glorious, near full length of the field, try in the first half, and was an assured presence under the testing kicks of Wakefield’s fearsome half back pairing of Luke Gale and Mason Lino.

O’Carroll said: “Aidan keeps going from strength to strength with us.

“He didn’t even train with us in our last session because he had a bit of an issue with his back.

“I was worried there, but he showed no signs of any after-effects from that tonight, and I thought he was exceptional again with some of the things he did out there on the pitch.”