JIMMY Lowes admits he could have done more to help the Bulls stave off the drop from Super League.

Lowes is doing all he can to ensure their stay outside the top flight – for the first time in 41 years – is as brief as possible.

The Odsal coach took on a desperate situation when he succeeded Francis Cummins with only ten games left and relegation was confirmed a month later with a defeat at Huddersfield.

Lowes, who lost his four opening games, engineered a defiant finale with back-to-back wins over Wigan, Leeds and Hull. But the damage had already been done.

And as he oversees a major overhaul to prepare for the Championship assault, there is still a tinge of regret about those early weeks.

Lowes said: “There’s a bit of a feeling of starting again this year, although I would have liked to rebuild in the Super League.

“When I came in, we were still in a position where we could have possibly stayed up.

“I just feel I didn’t do enough early on to get them there. We lost points from that.

“But we are in that position now. We’ve made a clean sweep, we’ve got something like 14 new players in and a couple of unknown ones from Australia.

“It’s a clean slate for everyone at the club.”

The Bulls are tipped to be one of the big hitters in a division where several clubs remain part-time. Lowes is happy to face that weight of expectation.

“I don’t mind that,” he said. “There’s pressure when you go into a job, wherever you’re coaching and whatever the sport.

“You understand what’s behind it all and what comes with the territory. I’m ready for it and excited by it.”