ADRIAN Purtell insists the Bulls need to put in the pre-season "hard yards" to go one step further in their Super League quest.

The Aussie centre, who is expected to succeed Chev Walker as captain, is building up for his fifth campaign at Odsal.

So the current rigours that the squad are being put through by Jimmy Lowes and his coaching staff will come as no surprise.

And Purtell believes that intense preparation is required if the Bulls are to make it out of the Championship at the second time of asking.

Purtell said: "Jimmy doesn't muck about. Everything he does is quite intense.

"It's another tough one again. We've got a couple of new faces in and they've settled pretty well, which most players usually do.

"It's been at a high intensity from the start, which we've become accustomed to with Jimmy. But it's been good and everyone is ripping in.

"It's quite professional in what we do and we know we need to work hard if we want to gain promotion – probably a bit harder than we did last year."

Purtell's own performances were as consistent as ever, scoring 16 tries in 26 appearances and skippering the side when Walker was injured.

But that is little consolation as they get ready to start all over following the Million Pound Game heartbreak.

"We weren't far off last year – but not far off isn't good enough," said Purtell.

"It was disappointing and still hurts now, which hopefully it does with all the boys because it gives us that little bit of motivation.

"Hopefully we can learn from our mistakes from last year and go one better and gain automatic promotion this time. That's what everyone wants."