JIMMY Lowes believes the Bulls set the benchmark in yesterday’s cruel 32-30 defeat at the hands of Catalan – and claimed their self-belief is returning.

In the first home match since being appointed as head coach, Lowes saw his side give a vastly-improved display.

The impressive Luke Gale’s second try with ten minutes remaining put Bradford 30-26 ahead – but ex-Bulls star Elliott Whitehead touched down in the closing stages to level the scores and Sam Williams’ conversion did the rest.

Yet Lowes said: “The general attitude of the boys was fantastic.

“Like I said to the players afterwards, that was the benchmark for us today and the victories will come if they keep playing like that.

“Their attitude was second to none, particularly defensively as they were tirelessly covering for each other.

“First and foremost, I thought we defended really well and we had a couple of chances to add a killer touch.

“We had a couple of chances in the second half when we poked our noses in front even further.

“But that will come with these guys’ attitude in training because a little bit of self-belief is coming back.

“There were a couple of soft errors but like I say, that was the benchmark.”

Lowes, who refused to single out any of his players for praise because he was impressed with them all, enjoyed being back at Odsal.

He watched the game from the dugout and saw his men given a standing ovation at the final whistle.

Lowes said: “As long as the fans are seeing that commitment – and they will see it from us, irrelevant of what happens.

“If we keep fighting, we will get our rewards and we’re not even talking about that (relegation). We need to produce that performance again on Friday.

“What has happened this season has dented their confidence and their belief but they’re not a bad side. They’re a better side than the position in the table suggests.”

Debutant Danny Williams impressed on the right wing and Lowes said of his return to his spiritual home: “I loved it, I really did. It’s a great place to play rugby and it was a good game.”

Lowes has swapped the home dugout to where the visiting dugout was positioned and explained: “I just wanted to change things.

“Not so much put my own stamp on it but just freshen things up. There is nothing else in it but that.”