Deacon: It's great to be back

From the archive, first published Monday 13th Feb 2006.

Paul Deacon turns 27 today and should have plenty to celebrate.

After nearly three months out of action following a horrific facial injury and a niggling hamstring, the Bulls star finally took to the field yesterday.

He put all those recent traumas behind him to help the champions to a 20-14 win at Wakefield in the opening round of Super League XI.

An early birthday present perhaps?

"I wouldn't say that!" smiled the Great Britian scrum half, after his side nervously opened their account.

The Bulls took the lead for the first time on 62 minutes and made plenty of errors as the Wildcats built up a 10-0 advantage.

Tries from Stanley Gene, Iestyn Harris and the winner from Shontayne Hape eventually prevented a shock but the visitors were far from convincing.

"It was nice to get a game under my belt after so long out but it was a tough one," admitted Deacon, who booted four goals.

"Conditions weren't so good and it's probably not one of those games that you really enjoy playing.

"But I did really enjoy getting the result because at the end of the day that's what matters.

"This time last year we'd have lost that game so that's a positive we can take out of it.

"To be honest, apart from two tries which came from kicks, I don't think they troubled us all day.

"Wakefield had a couple of sets on our line at the death but we held out well and that showed what it meant to us - and it showed our character."

After a mixed first half, Deacon's game improved as the match went on, just like his team-mates, who rolled their sleeves up to dig out a victory.

"A few of my last plays were a bit rusty but all in all I was pretty happy," he said, while confirming he suffered no ill affects to his face after the horrendous damage caused in the Tri-Nations last November.

"It was fine," he said, "and I was just pleased to get out there, get stuck in and get through it without any hitches."

Meanwhile, Stuart Fielden - who earned rave reviews for his man-of-the-match display in the World Club Challenge - suffered the unusual fate of being substituted yesterday.

After an indifferent performance, Brian Noble hauled the Great Britian ace off and the prop was

visibly upset, gesturing his dismay to the boss.

"Good," said Noble. "We'll show him some footage of the match and he'll see why he got taken off."

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