That was exciting. A little too exciting, maybe.
It's not as if we weren't warned that Bradford Bulls would be competitive in Super League. Our club owner told us so, prematurely declaring that the decision to expand to 14 teams has been vindicated by the start made by Bradford, York and Toulouse. All have won two of their first four games in the top flight.
But I think Mr McManus has gone a little bit early on this one. Let's see where those clubs are at the end of the season. By then injuries, suspensions and the sheer volume of higher intensity games than they've been used to are likely to have taken effect. For now, his view is supported by the events of this one.
If our players had seen the montage of 1996 highlights on the big screen before the game it may have inspired a stronger performance. To my mind watching Keiron Cunningham ruin the league, Danny Arnold scoring a Good Friday hat-trick and Tommy Martyn, Bobbie Goulding, Alan Hunte and Anthony Sullivan working their magic was a lot more entertaining than the lights show which preceded the last home game.
It's 30 years since that team clinched the inaugural Super League crown. It was a first title since 1975 and therefore a first during my lifetime. It followed on from a first Challenge Cup win since 1976. Bradford were the Wembley opponents in that 1996 final, an absolute epic in which Saints came back from a 14-point deficit to triumph. They came back out of a 12-point hole in this one but somehow it didn't quite have the same vibe.
We may look like that side with the retro shirt, but Saints' 2026 side is still very much a work in progress. Fortunately this vintage operates within different parameters. In 1996 we won the league by a single point. There's no need to finish top now. Head coach Paul Rowley just has to steer the ship into the top six to keep the Grand Final dream alive. But after the last two seasons of relative mediocrity and a mixed start to this campaign it remains a dream for now.
What we can say about this side is that it has a different intent than the one led previously by Paul Wellens or even those of Kristian Woolf before him. Rowley is not so wedded to the modern conservatism that is eating the game alive. Perceived wisdom says that if you receive the opening kickoff you get through your set and boot the ball down the field. Flip the field position.
So it was a surprise to see Saints shift the ball out to the right edge on the very first play. The problem was that when he received the ball in a bit of space Kyle Feldt didn't have anything like the pace to get around his opposite number Ethan Ryan. He's just not that sort of winger, but to be fair to him not many around the league are these days because of that tactical shift.
I was going to call it evolution but that implies progress. It's regression for me even if it's successful. I just don't want to win that way. The game is screaming for a champion team to emerge playing flair rugby. Then others will copy. Why can't that be Saints? It may take a little time but at least we'll be entertained if we fall short.
Snippets like the opening play here seem to suggest that Rowley gets it. That he's also sick of five drives and a kick. And even if shifting it didn't produce the spectacular on this occasion it had the Bulls scrambling early when they would ordinarily expect to only have to defend the middle of the field.
Not to pick on him, but Feldt was also a little slow to react to Rowan Milnes' kick in behind the defence which opened Bradford's try scoring account. By then Saints were already on the board through Shane Wright's second try in as many games and his fourth in just his eighth appearance for the club. Another assist for Jackson Hastings. Although George Whitby made a surprise return to the starting 13, as Harry Robertson was sent back to the bench, Hastings remained the dominant half.
This was one of Whitby's more anonymous performances. But that isn't necessarily a criticism. In his previous appearances he's had the onus placed on him to lead the team around the park. That responsibility currently falls on Hastings. So far we have seen little evidence of Whitby as a running 6 or 7 able to work off a lead half in the way that Sean Long did when he arrived to find Bobbie Goulding still entrenched at 7.
It's still valuable experience for the youngster even if it's hard to make the case that it should happen at the expense of Robertson's game time. At this point it's still more plausible to me that Robertson becomes a star of the league than it is Whitby. Robertson is already on his way there, with comparisons to Jack Welsby not outrageous. Like Welsby before him, Robertson has handled every first team challenge thrown at him, encompassing a number of different roles. He's a keeper. Whitby is still a maybe.
Last week I asked for more from David Klemmer and we got it. The former Newcastle Knights man rather trundles in with the ball but he did so to the tune of 125 metres. That was so important in the context of the absence of Alex Walmsley who has a foot injury. Daryl Clark was the only other Saints forward to break 100 metres but the real problem up front is a deepening injury crisis. The word is that it's so bad that we may have to recall Agnatius Paasi from his loan at Salford.
Alongside Walmsley and skipper Matty Lees, Saints have now lost Jacob Host and George Delaney. Host has suffered a broken leg in what looked suspiciously like a disgraceful hip drop by Loghan Lewis. The former South Sydney Rabbitohs man has been generally used for impact off the bench but now faces a lengthy spell on the sidelines. Lewis will serve a two-game suspension.
There are psychological challenges to that when you have flown half the way around the world to do a job that you suddenly won't be able to. That's before you start worrying about the hard yards involved with rehab. I am sure he will get the full support of the club and that we will see him in a Saints shirt again soon. In the meantime it must be especially galling to be placed in that situation by the recklessness of a fellow professional. You could tell all was not well when you saw him tapping his foot on the turf in what looked a mixture of agony and frustration. It was a sad moment.
The one knock on Klemmer concerned a loss of discipline. A quarter of the way into proceedings he was invited to take a 10-minute rest after hitting Bulls hooker Andy Ackers in the head with a shoulder. Video referee Tom Grant saw it as nothing more than a yellow which was perhaps fortunate, particularly in the context of the growing injury list in the pack. That crisis isn't helped by a two-game suspension for Joe Shorrocks. Step forward Agnatius.
Shorrocks was yellow carded for an horrific cannonball tackle on Ed Chamberlain. The Bulls back rower was already held up by two Saints defenders when Shorrocks decided to pad his tackling stats by joining in as third man. Only he did so with a reckless cannonball tackle which I would rather Mr Shorrocks didn't bring here from his grubby rugby league education at Wigan.
But that happened late in the game. The immediate aftermath of Klemmer's indiscretion cost eight points on the scoreboard. First Milnes converted the resultant penalty and then Connor Wynne got over for the first of his two tries on the night. As the ball was shifted left to right by the Bulls Saints just ran out of numbers to defend with. It was a quick illustration of the potential cost of ill discipline.
Unfortunately it isn't just the pack where injuries are having an effect. We were already without Welsby and Jonny Lomax so losing Nene McDonald after barely 20 minutes didn't help. Even if it did grant my wish of getting Robertson off the bench and on to the field. That's not the way I would have chosen for it to happen. It's not the first time McDonald has started but failed to finish a game in his early Saints career.
Is this repeated bad luck or - as seems more likely - is there an underlying issue which keeps making an unwanted appearance? I am inclined to suggest that if he isn't fit then he shouldn't be risked. He has a connection with Rowley from Salford, so it is easy to see why the coach has such belief in him.
But from a Saints perspective he's yet to make himself indispensable. Especially now that Robertson, Deon Cross, Owen Dagnall and Mark Percival offer depth at centre. Although it's not impossible that the latter may be needed in the back row next week. The new Kallum Watkins, strike centre turned workhorse.
Percival looked on his way out a week ago - with Huddersfield favourites to sign him - but now he has a deal to keep him at Saints until the end of 2027. He was in the 21 for this one but missed out on the match-day 17. Which makes you wonder how fit he is.
Matt Whitley can certainly expect more game time in the back row at Castleford in the cup next week. Certainly more than the 11 minutes he was afforded here. Whatever your thoughts on the ex-Widnes man it's a head scratcher when you consider that we had lost Host and Delaney by this point as well as McDonald. Such was the chaos perhaps Rowley was trying to save interchanges for the back end of the game.
I would argue that Whitley isn't someone who fatigues easily and needs to be protected. He could have played longer. But when you see your squad being decimated before your eyes perhaps over protection is understandable. There are things to think about beyond this game.
The incident which has robbed us of Delaney's presence next week arguably won us this game. The young prop was hit in the head by Bulls interchange forward Eliot Peposhi who - after a long deliberation from Grant - was issued with a straight red card. He could have little to complain about. If the Bulls are smart they'll accept his three-game ban and move on.
By then Saints were in the middle of a purple patch which felt almost like a dissociative experience when compared to the rest of the performance. They had slipped 16-4 behind, but hit back through Curtis Sironen and Tristan Sailor before Peposhi's discipline left him. With only 12 Bulls on the field Saints were able to create the space for Feldt to cross in the south east corner of the stadium. His 29th try in 23 Saints appearances. That's a Newlove-esque strike rate but I think most would agree that it has been achieved in a slightly different manner. But they all count.
Then came Shorrocks' head loss. He was fortunate not to be sent off but with only 15 minutes left he was already missing a large chunk of what time remained. There have been suggestions that he was allowed to return early. I doubt any of us in the stands had the stopwatch on it so it will be interesting to see if anything further develops there.
Shorrocks' departure gave Kurt Haggerty's men new life. Andy Ackers fought his way over to put them back in front at 22-20. It fell to Cross to rescue his side, fighting his way over on the left. Even with Hastings' conversion the last few minutes were nervy. Saints held just a four-point lead at 26-22. They managed to hold on as Joe Mellor broke free but his speculative kick was swept up by Sailor.
The win leaves Saints fourth in the table as the Super League takes a break for next week's Challenge Cup action. Bradford slip out of the top four down to fifth, but can be relatively pleased. Both with the way they have started the campaign with a couple of wins from four outings and at having pushed Saints so hard at the Brewdog.
Looking at next week Noah Stephens has suddenly become an important figure. The youngster made his first appearance of the season here. He ripped off 94 metres and was named as player of the match by the sponsors. He will need to build on that form with Lees, Walmsley, Delaney, Host and Shorrocks now unavailable. Retaining Paasi for this season suggests they must be willing to use him when the need arises. The need has arisen. Jake Wingfield also looks certain to feature for the first time since August.
Castleford have only won one from their first four but with the Saints pack so horrifically butchered it's not exactly a bye.
It could be exciting. A little bit too exciting.