Pumped-up Bulls recruit Gareth Raynor is on a mission to prove the doubters wrong.

The powerful winger looks set to play his first game in eight months in tomorrow’s pre-season clash with Halifax following an enforced absence from rugby league.

Handed a prison sentence for his part in an internet printer cartridge scam last May, Raynor was only released on New Year’s Day and can barely contain his excitement at the prospect of getting back to work.

“I can’t wait,” said the former Great Britain international ahead of Jamie Langley’s testimonial match at Odsal.

“It can’t come soon enough and I’m ready to blow seven months of cobwebs away and get back into playing again.

“A lot of people are probably thinking ‘what’s he going to be like and is he still going to be able to do it at this level?’ “That’s a goal – to prove some people wrong. I’m not here for the twilight of my career, I want to make an impact.”

Raynor arrives at Bradford with an undoubted pedigree, having scored more than 100 first-grade tries for previous clubs Hull FC and Crusaders, while touching down once in five Tests for his country.

That solitary international try represented a high point in the 32-year-old’s career, proving to be the winning score in a memorable 2006 Tri-Nations victory against Australia in Sydney.

And even though Test selection has long since slipped away, Raynor is backing himself to recapture those heights.

“I know in my mind that I can still play as well as when I played for Great Britain, if not better,” he said.

“But I’m looking at the short term first and whatever happens later is a bonus.

“What I’d like to do first is prove that I’m back and perform for Bradford. I know I can do and I’m getting goosebumps just talking about my first game.”

Despite his prison sentence, Raynor has been able to play a full part in the Bulls’ pre-season preparations.

Granted permission to start training on October 16 as part of a day-release programme, the Leeds-born star is feeling the benefit of a full winter’s training.

Raynor said: “It’s been going great. It’s the first full pre-season I’ve had probably since about 2007.

“It’s like any other pre-season. It’s tough but at the same time I’m enjoying it because when you’ve had time out of the game, you need to go that extra mile to get back to the level you want to be at.

“At the start of any pre-season you always ache but it usually goes after a few weeks. This time I was still aching after about six or seven weeks but I’d say I’m probably there now.”