Rowan Milnes relishing chance to play starring role at boyhood club Bradford

Rowan Milnes is ready to put down roots and play a starring role in his home city club’s return to the Betfred Super League big time.

Milnes grew up watching the Bradford at Odsal where he wore a replica shirt emblazoned with the name of his hero, Lesley Vainikolo, before rising through the academy system to make his first-team debut in 2018.

After leaving the following year amid the club’s mounting financial issues, Milnes began an odyssey which would lead him to six clubs in less than five years – but he never lost the shirt, nor the belief that he would one day return.

“It was tough to leave in the first place, it was all I knew,” Milnes told the Press Association. “I felt like we were building something special at the time, and it was taken away through no fault of the players on the field.

“The moment I heard last year that the Bulls were showing concrete interest, my mind was made up. I’ve had a pretty crazy 12 months. I feel like I’ve been all over the M62, and it’s great to be back where it all started.”

Milnes joined Hull KR in 2020, and would play in the 2023 Challenge Cup final defeat, but never managed to hold down a regular place at Rovers and had join spells at Dewsbury, Wakefield, and briefly back at Bulls.

An underwhelming year at Castleford in 2025 was followed by a brief and unlikely spell at crisis-club Salford last year, where he kicked five goals to help the ailing Red Devils to a stunning win at Warrington in August.

Now Milnes finally has the chance to establish a stable half-back presence amid an array of impressive top-flight recruitment, since the club’s 12-year absence from the top flight was confirmed to have ended in October.

Head coach Kurt Haggerty has built a new squad around shrewd acquisitions like Andy Ackers from Leeds, tough prop Ryan Sutton from the NRL’s Gold Coast Titans, and ex-Salford trio Jayden Nikorima, Loghan Lewis and Joe Mellor.

And Milnes believes there is no reason the club cannot continue to grow until it can once again get into position to challenge the likes of Rovers, Wigan and Leeds for the game’s top honours.

“I’ve been at Odsal many times when there’s been 20,000 packed in, and I’ve still kept that top with Vainikolo on the back, although it’s a bit small for me now,” laughed Milnes.

“It’s been a long time coming and it’s great to come back and be a part of this good feeling in my home city, especially with Bradford City doing so well at the moment too.

“I’ve been all over the place, but I always wanted to come back and I’ve got the chance now to establish myself over the years to come. If we get the crowds back, I think there’s real potential for those good times to return before too long.”