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Betfred Challenge Cup round three: Bradford Bulls v Castleford Tigers
Venue: Odsal Stadium Date: Sunday, 9 February Kick-off: 13:00 GMT
Coverage: Watch live on BBC iPlayer and BBC Sport app
There was a time where Brian Noble would not even set foot in Odsal Stadium.
He had played just short of 400 first-grade games for Bradford, won championships, captained the club, and notably coached the club to a period of unprecedented success.
After departing during the 2006 season, there was nothing. On the advice of a mentor he severed contact.
Until his epiphany.
“I went back and I looked at the ground where I’d played all those games from colts upwards and I thought ‘this is where you live, this is your home, this is your turf’,” Noble told BBC Sport.
It persuaded the 63-year-old to invest his time and years of expertise into his hometown club, first, in an advisory role.
Eamon O’Carroll’s decision to step down and move to St Helens as part of Paul Wellens’ staff prompted a decision to be made this past autumn, and led to Noble’s startling return as head coach for the first time in 20 years.
“It was about time I put something back into it,” Noble said.
“I was kind of pushing behind the scenes to go for it and let’s establish ourselves a good team, we’ve made progress with lots done and there’s lots to do, and with Eamon wanting to jump back into full-time at St Helens there was a chance the progress could have been de-stabilised.”
Bulls ‘not frightened to express ambition’
There is a very different landscape at Bradford from the one which Noble as reigning champions during the 2006 campaign.
The Bulls were liquidated in 2017, one of many low points in the following two decades in which the club’s status as a major player has been seriously eroded.
Under John Kear, they fought their way back from the bottom tier to become a Championship mainstay, and recent third-place finishes under interim coach Lee Greenwood [currently assistant] and O’Carroll have suggested Bradford are again pushing for a top-flight return.
However, with the move to a grading system as part of the IMG strategic partnership, Bradford needs to stand up to scrutiny on and off the field.
“There’s been a lot of work done over the last few years in trying to get the club to where it wants to be which is back in the Super League, we’re not frightened to express that ambition,” Noble said.
“We don’t want to compete at the top of the Championship, we want to be in the Super League.
“Nigel Wood and Jason Hirst deserve great credit for how it’s been turned around. Now the football staff have the same mission, we’ve had a couple of third-place finishes, if we improve on that let’s ask the question of IMG.”
Getty Images‘You have to commit to be successful – I can do that’
Away from rugby league, Noble is a voracious reader, turning to the world of business, culture and history for imagination and inspiration, and has taken plenty from famous coaches such as NFL legend Bill Walsh.
Respite from the hurly-burly of coaching can be sought by watching his fish swim around their tank. It is surprisingly hypnotic.
While his last coaching role at Salford ended in 2014 when he stepped up to become director of rugby on a short-term basis, the former Great Britain boss has had overseeing roles at the now-defunct Toronto Wolfpack, where he was in charge of recruitment and development amongst other things.
Noble is at the senior end of the coaching spectrum, but is adamant he remains contemporary and fresh.
“The game in its purest form hasn’t changed that much, there are still certain rules and regulations that you have to apply to if you want to win a game of rugby league,” he said.
“Defence hasn’t changed that much, other than in what you’re technically allowed to do. What we’re seeing quite a change in is defensive systems and the type of football because of the tackle target areas.
“But if you have a fundamental grasp of how you stop people and you always have had and know how to coach that, you’ll not be bad off.”
Whether Noble still had the energy to do the job, to put himself out for Bradford, was always the main question.
“I don’t fear on the competency side, I’ve kept up to speed, I’ve watched trends, watch rugby league both sides of the world and still have a lot of friends that I swap notes with, so I wasn’t ever really worried on that,” he said.
“You do have to commit to be successful. We speak to the players all the time about commitment and making sacrifices and having the discipline to fulfil their goals, hopes and aspirations. So I took the decision that, yeah, I can do that.”
Up for the cup
SWPIXDuring his first spell, where trophies were collected like kids collecting football stickers, Bradford were twice Challenge Cup winners – in 2000 and 2003 – and lost in three finals between 1996 and 2001.
Noble will once again get a crack at the historic cup, a competition in which he commentated on the final last season, as Castleford come to Odsal.
It is top-flight opposition and a little reminder, for those of a certain age, that such opponents were a regular fixture at the stadium until only recently.
Sunday’s tie will be an interesting barometer of progress.
“It’s a Super League club, it’s a step up for us, a step up in attitude and our behaviours,” Noble said.
“We’ve gone well in pre-season, but they’ve got some really talented players, a new rhythm and a new head coach [Danny McGuire – who he coached] who is going to want to impress.
“I’m not sure they’ll be looking forward to coming to Odsal, I hope not, but we’ll have to be at our best to compete.
“I think we can, and we’ve a few ideas that might upset them a little bit.”
The wily Noble still has a few tricks up his sleeve and the sparkle is still there.
