NATH'S NATTERS: Bulls at Magic provides poignant experience in times of trouble

I WASN’T sure what to expect from my first Magic Weekend covering the Bulls, but it ended up being a more powerful experience than expected. In truth, my battle with depression has been unpleasant over the last few weeks, but getting out and about always helps, being around people, having conversations, even when you don’t always feel like them. But on top of that, Liverpool means a lot to my family and I. It’s where many of my mum’s side still live, or where many moved from over the years up to the North East. My late grandad, who I looked up to and adored, was as big an Everton fan as they come, despite nearly actually being signed by Liverpool in the 1950s. A great lover of Goodison Park, I’d like to think he’d be impressed by the incredible facilities on offer at the Hill Dickinson Stadium. It was a bucket list item I never got to tick off, going to see a game with my grandad. But he loved writing and sport as a whole too, and mum often says she wishes her dad was alive to see what I do now as a job. It felt like a pilgrimage going to Everton for Magic then, not least because I had another family member to pay tribute to. My great-uncle Charlie was the life and soul of any family gathering he was at when we were little kids. His catchphrase, “superb” in a Scouse drawl, still gets repeated to me now, and it makes me smile every time. Charlie sadly died a few years ago, but one of the loveliest features of the Hill Dickinson Stadium is a walk of remembrance outside the stadium, featuring tributes and plaques to loved ones who have passed away. I was determined to find my great-uncle Charlie’s, which his family had put on the walk, but there was not enough time before the game. And afterwards, even though I had a train to catch, I was not going to leave without laying eyes on it. I searched for ages, but when I tell you the little rush of joy that I got from finally locating it, it was all worthwhile. Especially since I hadn’t realised just how much it would mean to Charlie’s daughter, who could not thank me enough. And after nipping into a pub over the road while I waited for the train that I was supposed to get, I was amused by what they were advertising. Tonight, in fact, The Lock Up Bar will be hosting an evening with former Everton full back Tony Hibbert (one of the most Scouse players ever). And the £10 ticket includes a free bowl of Scouse (obviously the most Scouse meal ever). As mum confirmed to me afterwards, all the funerals she has been to on Merseyside for families over the years have usually served the famous stew. I needed that family comfort last Sunday, as it was all quite overwhelming. But this is an incredible modern venue and there was so much outside ahead of Bulls’ kick off, mini-games, music, food stalls, everything you could want to get you pumped up and ready for the game. Inside, there was a spacious press area to work in before heading up to the stands, where I watched the end of Wakefield thumping Castleford. As I made my way up the three flights of escalators, I didn’t know what to expect. But as I entered the stadium, it really took my breath away. It is huge, while it’s also a huge walk to the press box, and I couldn’t quite believe that I was reporting on rugby league in a stadium like this. After years of covering Championship rugby, I was taken aback by Bulls’ first away game this year, in Hull FC’s glorious MKM Stadium, but I thought I was over that by now. Not so, as being sat up so high, with a little Sky Sports TV on my desk, taking in a first Magic Weekend for Bradford since 2014, was a real ‘pinch me’ moment. The experience was dampened slight by a Bulls first-half performance that head coach Kurt Haggerty labelled ‘very poor’, as the side fell to a grim 50-16 defeat against table-toppers and bitter rivals Leeds. But after interviewing Haggerty in the swanky press conference room, and poor Ethan Ryan as he finished off a pizza in the corridor, then polishing off lasagne AND mac and cheese, I headed back up for Wigan and St Helens. Many Bulls fans stayed too, and we were all treated to a thriller. Devastatingly, I went back downstairs to write up Haggerty’s quotes once Wigan went 16-8 up, thinking the game was done. I should have known better, as only a missed Jackson Hastings penalty prevented the game going to Golden Point. It was a fitting end to what most fans agreed had been a cracking first Magic Weekend at the venue and hopefully I’m feeling better soon, as I would love the chance to go when we return there next May for the 2027 version.