Dale Ferguson says his Scotland World Cup adventure has poured confidence into him as he prepares to make his Bulls debut this weekend.

The close-season signing is poised to face Castleford at the Provident Stadium on Sunday in the Bulls’ third and final pre-season friendly.

It will be his first competitive action since playing for Scotland in their final World Cup group-stage game against the USA in November. That match saw Ferguson pick up a two-match ban for a dangerous tackle on Tui Samoa, ruling him out of the quarter-final against New Zealand and the Bulls’ opening friendly against Hull FC.

After shaking off a back injury, the back-rower is now out to continue where he left off last season, which saw Huddersfield finish top for the first time in 81 years.

Ferguson said: “I enjoyed my rugby last year at Huddersfield and it gave me a bit of confidence.

“I just wanted to take that into the World Cup and obviously Danny Addy and I had a pretty successful time with Scotland.

“We both had a good tournament individually and obviously we’re going to bring that experience to Bradford this season.

“It was a fantastic experience to play against some of the best players in the world in our sport.

“Going into the tournament, we were pretty confident with the team that we named and I think we surprised a lot of people with the results that we got.

“To miss the quarter-final against New Zealand was massively disappointing.

“I was preparing to play and we travelled over to Leeds but then I got the news that I was banned for two games.

“We tried getting the ban overturned but had no luck, so I was stuck in camp without being able to play. That was gutting.

“But I’m just looking forward to playing in front of the Bulls fans this weekend.

“Franny has told me I’m one of the senior guys now, with some of the younger boys looking up to me.

“It’s a big weight on my shoulders but it’s something I’m going to enjoy doing – watching the young lads chase me and push me on.”

Luke George could also make his Bulls debut on Sunday and Ferguson added: “I played with Luke at Wakefield and Huddersfield.

“When Luke is on form, he’s an amazing talent so if he can stay fit and on the field I reckon he will do very well this year.”