SAMIR Tahraoui admits beating Leigh in the season opener would be a massive statement of intent – and he intends to play his part in trying to achieve it.

The new Bulls prop has figured in both pre-season friendlies against Castleford and Leeds, showing glimpses of his capabilities with some big carries.

While Paul Clough and Adam Sidlow seem certain to be the Bulls’ first-choice props, Algeria-born Tahraoui appears a decent bet to be involved in the crunch clash at the Leigh Sports Village.

The 24-year-old Salford University graduate, who played in the Championship for Whitehaven last year, reckons there is plenty more to come as he bids to establish himself in Jimmy Lowes’ top 17.

Tahraoui said: “The Leigh match has been billed as one of the biggest of the year, so to go out in that game and set the standard would be massive.

“If selected, that’s what I intend to do and I’d love to be given the opportunity to play my part.

“Playing against Leeds in Jamie Peacock’s testimonial was a great occasion but personally I don’t think I played as well as I could have done or should have done. I didn’t think I did myself justice to be honest.

“In the first 15 minutes my legs felt heavy and I started to feel a bit tired, which shouldn’t be happening given that we’ve had a tough pre-season to prepare us for this.

“The pace of the game was quite fast, which was different to what I had experienced before.

“But then in my second stint in the second half I felt I could have gone on a lot longer and it was a shame I couldn’t have got on a bit sooner.”

With Dan Fleming to come back from injury and Epalahame Lauaki due to arrive from Australia later this week, competition for places is set to increase.

Tahraoui added: “There is tough competition and Paul Clough and Adam Sidlow both really dug in against Leeds.

“Adam played long minutes and it will be tough competing against those two.

“With us being a new team, it would have been good to have another opportunity to play another game and see how our combinations work.

“You can’t change what’s happened because the Huddersfield game was called off and I thought we were at a slight disadvantage for that reason going into the Leeds match.

“I felt there were positives and negatives to take out of it but we’ve gone back to the drawing board and will prepare hard over the next two weeks for Leigh.”