Bulls coach Matthew Elliott has sprung to the defence of former skipper Robbie Paul whose loss of form has brought him under increasing fire from sections of the Odsal crowd.

The Kiwi ace scored a dazzling solo try against Hull last week but generally has struggled to make anything like the sort of impact which made him Super League's player of the year in 1996.

A foot injury last term meant he never really got going and this season's problems came to a head in Sunday's defeat at St Helens when he was overshadowed by Saints young half-back Sean Long.

Elliott admitted: "I think Robbie would be the first to accept that he is not in the best form of his career.

"But with a lot of our strike runners out of the side through injury the focus of a lot of opposition attention has been on Robbie and he has been closed down very quickly.

"I thought he did his best in the last half-hour on Sunday to make the breakthrough.

"He is working very hard and if he continues to do that I have every confidence that he will soon be back to his best.

"People have said to me he is not the player he was but what they are forgetting is that the side as a whole has not been as dominant and created the sort of space he once had."

Meanwhile Elliott is turning his attention to Sunday's visit to Halifax which has increased in importance following the Saints reversal.

Defeats for rival top five contenders Sheffield and London at the weekend still left them three and four points respectively behind the Bulls. But they should both take maximum points this weekend with visits from bottom two Salford and Huddersfield.

But Elliott stresses: "We can't focus too much on what other people are doing. We have to concentrate on getting our own performance right."

The Bulls were expecting to hear later today what ticketing arrangements will be made for Sunday's derby.

Meanwhile the Bulls have stepped in to sign teenage winger Mark Coates. The 16-year-old was recently released by Wigan.

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