On Sunday a selection of Crusaders junior players were honoured to be asked to take part in the pre match Bullman parade and then escort Bradford Bulls and Halifax players onto the field before their game.
Many of the young Crusaders were there early to take in the Army v Scotland Select side which kicked off at 12:15. A few of the Army faces were familiar to the Crusaders juniors and adults alike and, they enjoyed cheering on friends including linesman Pete Smith who is an integral part of the Crusaders family.
Army game out of the way, the young Crusaders and a few parents made their way to the end of Coral Stand to get ready for the parade which stepped off at 2:40 and was well received by applauding Bulls and Halifax fans as well as the remainder of the Crusaders party sat in the Provident Stand.
Parade done, the young Crusaders disappeared out of sight (which is always a worrying experience hahaha) to get ready to take the players onto the field. They appeared again just before kick off to a roaring crowd who were eagerly anticipating a good contest.
With the theme being Armed Forces Day a bugler sounded the last post from high in the Coral Stand and 1 minutes silence was immaculately observed by everyone in the stadium. The reveille was then sounded and the young Crusaders ran from the pitch with beeming smiles having done a great job.
True to form Ian McKechnie manged to situate himself just behind one of the more "unique" Bradford fans who clearly didn't like the linesman, or the ref, or Halifax, or advertisement hoardings, or the ..... well you name it, he didn't really like it. Dan Sharp did a good job in drumming up some extra support from the Crusaders ranks for his beloved Bulls and led the chanting throughout.
When asked if he had enjoyed the experience Douglas Ruffer just looked back and laughed, l'm not sure whether that was excitement or just laughing at me but l will take the former and hope for the best!
Well done everyone you did really well and thank you Bradford Bulls for the opportunity.