Bradford Bulls leapfrogged Wigan Warriors into fourth position in the engage Super League table, after an uninspiring and surprisingly flat encounter at the Grattan Stadium.

A performance built on character and control earned the Bulls a deserved 16-2 lead at the break. And despite a late rally of sorts from their disappointing opponents that, remarkably given what had gone before, saw Wigan trail by just six points with seven minutes to go, the home team never looked in serious danger.

“We were very good from start to finish,” Steve McNamara, the Bradford coach, said. “We scored enough points in dreadful conditions and defended stoutly.” If Wigan began sluggishly, Bradford were soon into their stride with a try by Semi Tadulala, the left wing.

The Bulls continued to target Wigan's relatively inexperienced right-side defence and were again rewarded for the tactic when Shontayne Hape went in from a David Solomona pass on 11 minutes.

Uncharacteristically, Paul Deacon missed those two conversions, but he had no trouble when Ben Jeffries - who later left the field with a hamstring injury - was first to reach a kick by the impressive Terry Newton.

Deacon also added a first-half penalty goal, while Wigan's only response was Richard's two-pointer on the half-time hooter. When Richards then squeezed in for a try on the hour, followed by a Phil Bailey score 13 minutes later, it appeared that the visiting team had belatedly awoken from their slumber.

Even then, another Deacon penalty quickly regained the initiative and a late try by James Evans gave the scoreline a more accurate look.

One bright spot of Wigan's lacklustre display was the return from injury of Trent Barrett, the stand-off. Barrett, rumoured to be heading home to Australia sooner rather than later, is expected to meet Ian Lenagan, the Wigan chairman, to seek a release early this week. However, Brian Noble, his coach, played any such suggestion with a straight bat.

“As far as we are concerned, Trent is staying with us,” Noble, denying that the speculation has proved distracting to player or team, said. “Trent is completely focused. All the noises are coming from Australia.”