James Donaldson was 16 when he upped sticks from Whitehaven and moved to Bradford with dreams of playing in Super League.

Four years on, and having achieved that ambition, the talented Cumbrian forward is gearing up for probably his biggest season yet.

He is entering the final year of his contract and knows how he performs could prove pivotal in deciding his future.

Listening to him speak, his passion for the club is clear and it is obvious he would like to remain at Odsal beyond the end of his current deal.

Donaldson, 20, said: “I’ve wanted to play for the Bulls ever since I moved here. Nothing has changed. I still want to be at Bradford for a long time to come.

“I’ve only got one year left on my contract so I’ll just have to see how this year goes. But if I can get a good pre-season behind me then I can do what’s right for Bradford and hopefully secure a new contract.

“I don’t want to be anywhere else.”

Moreover, his ability has never been in doubt.

When the loose forward or second row snapped cruciate knee ligaments in a Challenge Cup defeat to Warrington in May 2010, he already had ten months of top-level experience under his belt.

Donaldson made his debut against Castleford aged just 17 years and 294 days and has been touted for big things since.

Like a number of his team-mates, he is determined to make up for lost time after injury.

Donaldson returned to action after that serious knee injury in April of this year but never quite managed to establish himself in Mick Potter’s side on a regular basis.

An end-of-season call-up to the England Knights squad poured confidence into him, though, and he returned for pre-season training feeling healthy in body and mind.

“I’m probably in the best shape I’ve ever been,” declared Donaldson.

“I’ve been doing well in the fitness tests and just need to put a bit of weight on now just to get back up to size.

“I had excessive weight last year but that didn’t help me on the field as I had to carry that as well and meant I maybe couldn’t play the minutes I wanted to. Hopefully, what I’m doing during this pre-season will help me to get a lot more game time in 2012.”

Donaldson is happily settled in West Yorkshire but remains close to his family in Cumbria.

They are regular visitors to Odsal and he has no doubts as to who his biggest fan is. “My mum gets to every game and she enjoys coming down here,” he said.

“It’s a bit of a different lifestyle around here to Cumbria.

“All my family live up in Whitehaven still – I moved down here when I was 16 to play for the Bulls.

“My family are dairy farmers in Cumbria, which isn’t something you can just leave and move away from, but they still travel down to see me most weeks.”

Donaldson thoroughly enjoyed being part of the Knights squad for their games against France and Cumbria.

It was the perfect tonic after a tough 2011 campaign and Donaldson said: “It was a shock at first to get the call but it was an opportunity that everyone wants.

“To get a chance to play after only getting the amount of game time I did last season was a bonus.”

Helping England’s newly-formed side to victory against Cumbria in his hometown was a special occasion for Donaldson – and his mum, of course.

Donaldson added: “The fact it was in Whitehaven made it even more special to me because I was born and bred there.

“It was nice for my family to have a match up there on their doorstep.”

Cumbria is a rugby league hotbed but, despite boasting clubs of the stature of Workington and Whitehaven, the border region currently has no presence in Super League.

“Hopefully we can do something about that in the next five or six years,” said Donaldson, who played for the famous Wath Brow amateur side during his formative years.

“That’s how long it could take as there’s a lot of rivalry between Whitehaven and Workington, then you have Barrow as well.

“That’s massive and it gets in the way of that opportunity to have a team in Super League.”