JOHN Bastian says his quest to produce players ready for the Bulls’ first-team will be “relentless” and is aiming to take the club’s youth set-up to a new level.

Bastian, who had spells in charge of the youth system at Leeds and Warrington, was sacked as Featherstone head coach in May after just ten games in charge.

But he is delighted to be back in the game at Odsal, where he will work closely with head coach Jimmy Lowes and Under-19s coach Matt Diskin as he bids to produce the next Elliott Whitehead, John Bateman or Adam O’Brien.

Head of youth Bastian said: “It’s really exciting and when I spoke to Jimmy about the job, it was certainly something which interested me.

“One, Bradford is a huge club and two, I know Jimmy and have a lot of respect for him as a person and as a coach.

“I was excited about working for Bradford Bulls and Jimmy Lowes.

“It’s about developing the players as people and the qualities of each individual, then trying to progress them over a period of time and that’s something we were really big on.

“Certainly Tony Smith and myself, it was part of our philosophy at Warrington, and as a club they are in really good stead now.

“They’ve got some wonderful players and they have certainly got a fantastic youth structure with a great production line of young players based in and around those philosophies.

“They had to have some skill and quality as rugby players, but we always thought if we got the right person then they would improve gradually as players.

“It’s about everybody playing their part, enjoying what they are doing but being disciplined while being progressive and continually looking to add little things to make yourself a bit better and smarter.

“Above all it’s about relentlessly trying to produce and promote players who are going to push for the first-team.

“My time at Featherstone was challenging but there were some really good things that I learnt which will help me in this job as well.

“But my total focus now is on the youth programme at Bradford Bulls and improving that.

“There are some good things that have been put in place but we want to be better.”

Bastian is not scarred by his spell at Featherstone and he did not sit at home and mope after being axed.

He explained: “I was a roofer and builder for 20 plus years, so after leaving Featherstone I actually got straight back out and bought myself a van.

“I did it for around four months and it’s been great to be fair.

“It’s been refreshing and this is something else that we push hard for young players to do – to get a trade – so that if things do go wrong for a period of time or when you’ve finished rugby league, you’ve got something to fall into.

“Moreover, it’s something you enjoy and want to do and it’s important that parents and young players get it right and choose the right career path.

“I think everybody plays a part in the process and I’m just one of those people who plays a part in helping them to step up to the next level.”