When Super League was cut to a dozen teams at the end of the 2014 season, it lost two of its biggest cities in Bradford and London, which followed big markets such as Paris, Tyneside and Sheffield out of the top flight, seemingly never to return. London Broncos have popped back to the party twice but only stayed for a season each time. Seeing the Broncos become a penniless and homeless part-time operation was sad; seeing Bradford do the same was shocking.

The Bulls went into financial meltdown, were liquidated, relegated to the third division and even left their famous Odsal Stadium for a while. Now, 20 years after being crowned world champions for the third time in five seasons, Bradford are back in the big time and preparing to kick off their season at Hull on Saturday.

The timing of the Bulls’ election to Super League has raised eyebrows to hairline levels across the sport given that it coincided with the return of the club’s former chairman, Nigel Woods, to the RFL board. Bradford finished 15th in the pyramid last season and failed to reach the Championship Grand Final but they were 10th in the latest IMG ratings. That’s how big a club they remain. Bulls stickers can still be spotted in back windows of cars across the country and sports fans who never watch rugby league know who they are. That does not apply to many Super League clubs.

The sport needs them and the large gates they will bring in the top flight. Yes, Odsal can look like a muddy mess from the last century, but the giant old bowl has been given a scrub up. The stock car racing is gone; new LED floodlights and pitchside boards have been installed; the Southbank Stand has been spruced up; and it now has a full-sized pitch.

The club’s decision to hand Kurt Haggerty his first job as a head coach at such a delicate time is a testament to how highly they rate the former Leigh and Widnes forward, who is primarily known for his work alongside Paul Rowley at Salford. The 37-year-old, who finished his playing career at Bradford, has a clear style of play in mind for his team.

“When the club contacted me, I made it very clear that I’m not a ‘five drives and a kick’ kind of coach,” he says. “I don’t believe I can coach that better than other coaches in Super League. You probably saw a style at Salford that was between myself and Paul Rowley. I made it very clear I have a system and a style that I believe in. I always got taught to make sure you play a style of rugby that you enjoy watching sitting in the stands.”

With 11 new signings, Bradford will take a while to bed in. They beat London Broncos in an entertaining Challenge Cup tie at Wimbledon on Sunday, but only took control after injuries reduced the home side to 12 men on the hour mark. They won 26-8 but might have lost in Super League, where the Broncos would have called on an 18th man as a HIA replacement.

With big-money signing Jayden Nikorima out until April, halfback Joe Keyes will have another shot at Super League 12 years after his debut in London’s hapless relegation season. Keyes knows the journey Bradford have been on. He kicked five goals for the reformed Bulls when they beat York on the opening day of the League One season in 2018 and began their slow climb off rock-bottom. Now in his third spell at Bradford Bulls, he shone on Sunday alongside Rowan Milnes in a halfback partnership enhanced by veteran Joe Mellor, a natural half playing at loose forward.

“People have a version of what they think Joe Keyes is, an older half managing the game,” explained Haggerty. “That is not his strength. His strength is to run the ball. You need to engage him on the ball. He has a fantastic running game. I’d like him to swing both sides of the field a little bit more but overall, I’m really happy how he’s taken to it.”

Most of Bradford’s attacks in their win against London Broncos went through 35-year-old Mellor, who worked with Haggerty at Salford. “Joe Mellor is a pretty freaky athlete – to play the minutes he has at his age, and the way that he plays,” said Haggerty, who is just two years older than Mellor.

“He’s a fantastic player for us. Joe’s always played as a pivot and in my system I need a specialist 13. But I didn’t have to convince him much because he’s a natural footballer. He’s still learning that role but he plays at a tempo that suits him. He can play fast, slow, or slow to fast, depending on what the defence is doing. That’s not coaching. That’s just his natural ability.”

If Bradford are to acclimatise rapidly to Super League, Ryan Sutton will play a huge part. Haggerty admitted he was brought to the verge of tears on Sunday as he watched the prop play what was just his second game of rugby since 2023 after an injury-wrecked spell in the NRL.

As soon as Bradford’s comeback match at Hull is over, Toulouse will kick off their first Super League fixture since 2022 at Wakefield. Like fellow expansion club York Knights, Toulouse have to manage with half the central funding Bradford have received from the RFL. So, wary of making inappropriate signings in haste like they did in 2022, stalwart coach Sylvain Houles has stuck with players he knows.

Of their five new arrivals, only England prop Tyler Dupree – on a season’s loan from Wigan – has proven himself at elite level, although scrum-half Cesar Rouge has tasted life at the top with Catalans. Houles hopes raw French winger Mathieu Pons can become a Super League star only four years after he took up the sport at university. Toulouse’s overseas quota includes two more recruits: Ireland second rower Henry O’Kane and exciting Italy back Luke Polselli.

Their biggest challenge will be scoring tries. Fullback Olly Ashall-Bott and winger Ben Laguerre scored 55 tries in 55 games last year, but Reuben Rennie was the only other player to hit double figures. They lost at Widnes, Halifax, Doncaster and York last year, so will also have to be far better on their travels.

York’s opener against treble-winners Hull KR on Thursday night was the first top-flight game in the city since 22 April 1986, when just 1,367 spectators watched the old York club lose narrowly to Leeds. They were relegated that season after losing eight of their final nine games. Such a dismal run of results would be unfamiliar to Mark Applegarth’s side, who won 20 matches in a row last season before a narrow defeat to Toulouse in the Grand Final in October.

Expectations are low for the three promoted teams this year. They are unlikely to do a Leigh or Wakefield and challenge for a play-off place. If any of them avoid the bottom three come September, they will be delighted. Just don’t hold your breath.

Follow No Helmets Required on Facebook