Resilience is one of the qualities that champions have to display, and Super League holders Bradford Bulls had to show it last night as they again recovered from a slow start.

They trailed Widnes 12-0 after seven minutes at the Halton Stadium last Sunday and came back to win 22-16.

And the Valley Parade faithful watched them fall behind 10-0 by the 18th minute before overpowering Hull 32-18.

An unexpected reward for the Bulls' graft came when they heard of St Helens' shock 40-6 defeat at London, leaving Bradford topping the Tetley's Super League table by two points at this admittedly early stage. Bulls stand-off Brandon Costin called the sluggish opening nothing more than a failure to execute their game-plan properly.

But there were certainly echoes of last weekend when Robbie Paul - switched to full back in the injury absence of Michael Withers and Paul Sykes - spilled Jason Smith's opening 'bomb' as early as the third minute.

It was an education to watch former Australian Test player Smith probe the Bulls defence with his varied kicking game, particularly in the first half.

All four of his initial kicks were different, and his second punt to the Bulls' left-hand corner was knocked on by Nathan McAvoy, Hull right winger Gareth Raynor scoring after almost sitting on the loose ball.

However, McAvoy was knocked off balance in mid-air by Raynor, who then put his palm on the ball when it hit the deck.

Smith also caught a delicate chips from his own kick as the visitors continued to hold sway, and only a crucial interception by the canny James Lowes prevented a likely score.

A lateral Smith kick then eluded the leaping former Bull Graham Mackay, but Crowther was just behind him to take the ball on the full and score.

Smith was ticked off for a high tackle on Stuart Fielden, which deserved a heavier penalty, and perhaps that talking-to from referee Stuart Cummings was on Smith's mind when he and Paul Cooke let Lee Gilmour in for the Bulls' first try.

Scrum half Paul Deacon added an excellent goal, but, despite an impressive charge upfield by paul Anderson, who almost scored himself later in the half, Hull finished the half on top with a successful Crowther penalty.

At that stage, surprise packets Hull were on course for their first away victory over the Bulls in Super League.

And the champions, knocked out of the Challenge Cup by Leeds last month, were in serious danger of going down to a second home defeat in three matches - especially as Hull's completion rate in the first half was 100 per cent.

Bradford desperately needed to quieten play-maker Smith, who had brilliantly engineered their impressive 38-6 demolition of Leeds earlier this month at The Boulevard. The Bulls turned on the power, however, in the second half to delight a bumper crowd of 13,268 with a decisive 14-point scoring burst early in the second period.

Heavyweight duo Anderson and Joe Vagana illustrated the champions' awesome forward strength by crashing over for tries in a one-sided second half that confirmed the Bulls' record as the only unbeaten team in Super League.

Bradford turned the game on its head in devastating fashion, scoring at virtually a point a minute for the first 15 minutes of the second half to transform a six-point deficit into an eight-point lead.

Deacon pulled two points back with a penalty for the use of the forearm on Lowes by Sean Ryan, even though one of the touch judges signalled no goal, and edged his side in front for the first time in the 49th minute by converting a try by McAvoy, who made the most of an overlap on the left.

That kick was even more impressive as 'water boy' Paul Medley had to tell a Sky TV cameraman to move back as he was in Deacon's line of sight.

Impressive Hull full back Steve Prescott, who did so well to stop Anderson's charge in the first half, went close in the 54th minute.

But the Bulls were on a roll and 19st prop Anderson, who had a barn-storming match, proved unstoppable from ten metres out, powering past Cooke and taking two other helpless defenders over the line with him.

Hull briefly stemmed the tide, Prescott producing a magnificent run out of defence, and the champions were temporarily reduced to 12 men when Scott Naylor was rightly sin-binned for a professional foul.

But Bradford made light of their numerical disadvantage and stretched their lead in the 63rd minute when right winger Tevita Vaikona raced in for another try following a weaving, dummying run from Paul.

Toa Kohe-Love claimed a consolation try for Hull, following another clever kick by Smith, but Bradford finished in command with Vagana charging over for a fifth try and Deacon maintaining his pin-point accuracy with a sixth successful kick. Man mountain Paul Anderson is pictured celebrating the touchdown that extended the Bulls' advantage over a tricky Hull side.