Jamal Fakir has vowed to rediscover his best form at the Bulls after putting his Catalan nightmare behind him.

The 31-year-old France prop has penned a deal until the end of the season to become the first signing since Marc Green bought the club.

Fakir was effectively hung out to dry by the Dragons following their 56-14 defeat at Wakefield on March 9, when they released a statement saying he would be playing for their reserve side for the rest of the season.

But Fakir soon parted company with the French outfit and considered retiring before the opportunity to join Francis Cummins’ side arose.

Fakir said: “After the Wakefield game, I wanted to stop playing for one month and stay with my family to decide what I wanted to do.

“Three weeks ago, Olivier Elima told me ‘Francis wants you to come to Bradford’ but I said ‘no, for the moment I want to stay at home’.

“But in my head I wanted to play again because I’m only 31.

“This a new chapter for me here at Bradford. This is my life now and I want to find my best rugby league in the next five months.

“I’ve been training alone for the past four weeks and I’m ready to give 100 per cent for the Bulls.”

Fakir is living with Elliot Kear for the time being but his wife and young daughter are expected to join him in England in the coming weeks.

Cummins was delighted with the acquisition of the hardened front-rower and is expected to hand him a debut in Sunday’s Tetley’s Challenge Cup fourth-round tie with Oldham.

The Bulls boss said: “When Jamal had his fall-out with Catalan, we approached them and they were willing to loan him to us.

“But Jamal didn’t want anything to do with them so we let the dust settle a bit and he became a free agent. That was even better because we need to keep our loan spots open.

“Jamal and I had spoken on the phone and we have got Olivier Elima in France who we could talk to about Jamal.

“Is he retiring? Is he ready to go again? Does he have the desire?

“Oli gave us his opinion and Jamal arrived on Wednesday night before going for dinner with a few of the players, which was really good.

“He is a hardened, senior prop and is not someone you want to run into. He is just what we need and he has a point to prove.”