ROHAN Smith is predicting another fierce battle against Dewsbury tomorrow but is confident that rookie referee Scott Mikalauskas can handle the occasion.

The West Yorkshire rivals meet for the fifth time this season with a place in next weekend's Championship Shield final on the line.

The Bulls have enjoyed four bruising encounters with Glenn Morrison's men in 2016, winning two and losing two, with the most recent match at the Tetley's Stadium a particularly scrappy affair.

Bradford won that game 36-26 but tensions frequently threatened to boil over under 27-year-old Mikalauskas, who only officiated his first Super League game last month and will take charge of his fourth Bulls game in recent weeks.

Head coach Smith said: "There are no two ways about how Dewsbury are going to play and we know what to expect.

"We've had two hard battles in my time here and some previous battles earlier in the season. We expect nothing less than the fierce battle that any semi-final should be.

"We're looking for another strong performance this weekend and we know it's going be rugged and we know it's going to be fierce.

"We know what Dewsbury are about and we know what their players bring individually. We are all aware of that – but the boys understand what's at stake and we will be ready to fire at 3pm on Sunday."

On the man in the middle, Leigh official Mikalauskas, Smith added: "Refereeing is an extremely tough job.

"I'm for all people getting an opportunity and that's why I'm giving chances to our younger players.

"It makes sense for the RFL to give referees a chance in big games. I'm happy with the appointment, there are no dramas there.

"The last match at Dewsbury was quite scrappy and messy, so I'm sure the RFL bosses would have checked over that game to see what they could see.

"Maybe they learned some stuff from it as us players and coaches learn from every game. I'm not too concerned who referees any game – it's about controlling what we can control."

The Bulls battered Sheffield 80-0 last week and Smith has named an unchanged 19-man squad for tomorrow's match.

Lewis Charnock has shrugged off a dead leg and is set to retain his place alongside Dane Chisholm in the halves.

"It was a good performance more so than the scoreline last week and I thought we were very ruthless in our approach," said Smith.

"All facets of the game came together and the score looked nice – but it's more the performance we are chasing tomorrow.

"We will look to continue to play a good style and try and stretch Dewsbury out a little if we can.

"I don't know if the fact we've played them four times already really matters because previous performances don't count for anything."

Defeat would end the Bulls' season but Smith is not even contemplating that prospect and has paid tribute to the club's young guns.

At half-time tomorrow, supporters trust BullBuilder will be presenting their player of the year trophies to the under-16s and under-19s sides.

Six under-19s players are now full-time members of the first-team squad and 14 scholarship graduates have signed professional terms with the Bulls.

BullBuilder's next target is to make a substantial contribution towards the coaching and development of the Bulls under-16s and under-19s.

Fundraising begins tomorrow with a bucket collection before and after the match and Smith, whose squad return for pre-season training on November 9, said: "The club do such a great job in acknowledging the young players.

"John Bastian is very good at developing a pathway and putting a programme in place.

"He's also extremely good in providing little touches of class that recognise the hard work of the players but also give their family and friends the chance to really enjoy the moment to see these young guys move forward.

"I won't be out there to see it but I'll look forward to seeing the video footage and photos of it."