ROSS Oakes believes the try-scoring contest between the Bulls' young guns can keep spurring them on.

The emergence of some of the bright lights from the club's academy has been the highlight of a challenging first half of the season in the Championship.

Oakes, Ethan Ryan and James Bentley have all come to the fore and the trio have become involved in their own competition at the top of the scoring charts.

Oakes currently leads the way on ten tries and is relishing the jump to first-team rugby alongside some familiar faces.

He said: "It's always good to get over the line and with Ethan and Bentley coming through the academy as well, it's good to be up there as top try scorers.

"There's always going to be a bit of competition between us. Bentley got his four the other week (against Sheffield) and Ethan is scoring a few every week.

"Ethan has moved to right centre now but (before) it was all the left side with that competition.

"It's massively important for the club to have home-grown players in the side. I'm Bradford through and through and have supported the club since I was a young lad.

"I've played with Bentley for the past three years, Ethan a few more and it would be really good to keep going with them."

The Bulls have been depleted in numbers on the training ground but those remaining have been put through their paces in the wake of the Easter double blow.

Oakes admitted it has been a tough week since Monday's heavy defeat at Featherstone and said: "The performance was way off the mark, so we've been at it non-stop.

"We need to use this time to come together and work on what we have to improve on."

The Bulls have a week until their next outing – a daunting date in the south of France against a Toulouse side who have just ended Hull KR's 100 per cent run.

Oakes said: "They will be very confident after that win and being at home as well. But we'll go there and do a job.

"We did it a few weeks ago and bounced back after a couple of poor games. We just need to work on our consistency.

"I've never played abroad, so it will be different, but I'm looking forward to it and hopefully we can come good.

"At the start of the year, I didn't think I would be thrown in the deep end and be given a starting number straight away.

"Playing Championship rugby is a big physical demand but I'm pretty used to that now. I'm just hoping to improve every game and keep that shirt."