Bradford Bulls have angrily denied reports circulating in Australia that Kiwi prop Joe Vagana is looking for the exit door at Odsal - just six months into his three-year contract with the club.

It has been claimed that Vagana (pictured) is not enjoying the English lifestyle and that has alerted Sydney-based NRL outfit Canterbury Bulldogs who are also chasing the signature of his Bulls and New Zealand Test colleague Henry Paul.

But Bulls chief executive Abi Ekoku today dismissed the stories as "agent talk."

"Joe is very well settled in England and he is happy with the club," Ekoku said.

"He has a contract with us until the end of the 2003 season. I believe rumours of this sort are simply based on stories started by agents."

Vagana joined the Bulls from the New Zealand Warriors at the end of last year amid stiff competition from several other NRL clubs. He quickly became popular with the fans although he admits he has still to find his best form consistently.

But in an interview with the Telegraph & Argus last week the 19st forward said: "I'm enjoying myself at Bradford, it's a great club. I'm playing with a fantastic bunch of guys and we're top of the ladder at the moment so it couldn't be going a lot better."

Meanwhile Ekoku has confirmed that the Bulls have held initial talks with the advisers of Canberra Raiders' Kiwi Test ace Lesley Vainikolo.

The Giant winger is seen as a possible high profile replacement for Henry Paul should he decide not to renew his contract at the end of the season.

The weekend results have seen the Bulls lead cut to just two points and set up a crunch clash with third-placed Hull - 34-28 winners over St Helens on Saturday - at Valley Parade on Friday night.

The Bulls main injury concern is Aussie back-rower Daniel Gartner who was forced to retire with a neck injury during the 44-30 defeat at Wigan on Friday night.

But the Bulls are hopeful that influential loose forward Mike Forshaw will be fit to return after missing the last two games with a hand injury.

The Alliance team suffered only their second defeat of the season when they crashed 52-6 against second-placed Wigan at Odsal on Saturday night.

The Bulls points came from a Nicky Johnson try and a penalty by Michael Coates.