After only moving to Bradford from Castleford at the back end of last season, James Clare didn’t get to play at Summer Bash – did you catch much of it on the TV?
Yes I caught quite a few games to be fair. I’ve got quite a few friends that play in the Championship so it’s always nice to see them on the TV.
It looks incredible – I’ve been involved in a few Magic Weekends and it looks the exact same concept but just at a different location, and Blackpool seems like the perfect location.
We’ve just had the Magic Weekend and with Summer Bash following hot on its heels, it feels like Rugby League’s festival season is here.
It gives an opportunity for fans who go for the weekend who aren’t necessarily fans of teams in the Championship. I know a couple of my friends that are Castleford fans went to both the Magic Weekend and Summer Bash. It even gives the chance for non-Rugby League fans to come and watch it live.
Clare takes on Leigh Centurions earlier this season.
Bradford have already sold over 2,000 tickets for Summer Bash.
You’re playing against Leigh this year. As yourselves and Leigh have the biggest followings in the Championship, it’s taking centre stage on Saturday night.
Leigh are an incredibly tough team but that’s where I think we need to be to challenge ourselves as we’re playing against them three times at least this year. We want to be playing in all the big games at the end of the year anyway.
We drew against them at home so if we can get a win against them in Blackpool, it kind of puts a marker down for what we’re about. I know Bradford played Halifax last year, which is a great rivalry, but I think the main rivalry for us in the Championship is Leigh as they’re our biggest challenge.
Quick-fire Questions
Fish and Chips or Hot Dog? – Fish and Chips
The Beach or Blackpool Pleasure Beach? – The rollercoasters
Ice cream or candyfloss? – Ice cream with strawberry sauce!
Blackpool Tower of the Pier? – Tower – too cold on the pier!
Magic Weekend or Summer Bash? – Summer Bash! Can’t wait to be involved in my first one this year
When you played them earlier in the season, you performed a great comeback from 32-6 down to draw 32-32, and you scored a couple of tries in that match.
For the first 60 minutes, Leigh were an incredibly strong team and I think they shocked us a little. We knew it would be a tough game but they really shot out of the blocks. Micky Higham just controlled everything about the game and really dominated. We showed some self-discipline and a strong mentality.
Bradford brought a huge following last year and with over 2,000 tickets sold to them already, it’ll be a huge boost to you.
Yeah, that’s massive for us throughout the entire season and not just Summer Bash. The fans travel for us incredibly well. There’s a huge core fan base and it almost feels like a home game because there are so many fans. Leigh travel very well themselves so I’m sure the stadium will be really packed that Saturday.