JON SHARP would bring much-needed defensive organisation to the Bulls if he is appointed as new head coach.

That's the view of former Bradford assistant Karl Harrison, who witnessed much of their failed bid to survive in the Championship last season.

Former Featherstone and Huddersfield coach Sharp is thought to be among the leading candidates to take over from Geoff Toovey.

And Harrison – who advocated former Gloucestershire All Golds coach Lee Greenwood as another contender – believes his old Hull FC team-mate would be a strong replacement as Bulls look to make an immediate return to the Championship next season.

He said: "Jon is very much a stats-based coach. He is defensively organised, whose teams are very hard to break down and Bulls have been weak defensively for a few seasons now.

"With the ball, Jon will play a lot of position rugby league and get the team into positions to do certain things.

"It won’t be an extravagant style but it will be a power-based style.

"Jon is a proven coach in Super League and more recently at Featherstone. He did a very good job there and was very unfortunate to depart.

"They finished high up in the league and he got sacked, which seemed harsh.

"Jon is a very good coach, who works on principles and structure, so he would be good for the Bulls."

Sharp was shocked by his dismissal from Fev back in July, having already secured a second successive top four Championship spot despite them being part-time. He also won the Championship Shield with Rovers in 2015.

Before that, he had taken up a role as head of match officials at the RFL, where he had started working in 2011.

His time in charge of Huddersfield saw him take the Giants to their first Challenge Cup final for many years in 2006, while he also served as an assistant coach for Great Britain during Brian Noble's time at the helm.

Harrison, who retired from coaching himself after a spell as assistant to Jimmy Lowes at Bulls, believes Sharp's pedigree makes him a standout candidate.

He said: "At Huddersfield he did a marvellous job and was fantastic at Fev.

"He knows what is required. He has high principles and he is a very hard coach. He picks up on the little things and the players will know they have been coached.

"He is a coach they could build around for the future but I don’t think the Bulls have to look too far ahead.

"They have to focus all their efforts on getting out of League One and then look at the next hurdle."

Greenwood is another name whom Harrison is familiar with, having had him as his assistant when he was in charge of Batley and Halifax.

The 37-year-old is on the lookout for a new role back in the north, having left Gloucester All Golds after three seasons at the helm of the development club.

Harrison, who now works in sports management, said: "Lee did a tremendous job at Gloucester All Golds but he'd had enough of the travelling commitments.

"He would be good as he knows League One. That is very very important, You need someone who knows the lower leagues of English rugby league."

The former winger played for Halifax, Sheffield, London Broncos and Huddersfield and also earned two England caps.

At Gloucester he earned praise for developing local players rather than using the dual-registration system. In his final season, his All Golds side earned stand-out victories over Keighley Cougars and Workington Town.

The deadline for applications for the Bulls head coach role passed yesterday and the club are set to start interviews next week with a decision made by December 10.