LEON Pryce was back at his spiritual home this week to make the Challenge Cup fourth-round draw alongside former Bulls team-mate Jamie Peacock.

As Pryce looked forward to achieving more success in a remarkable career which has harvested 200 tries, he could not help but look back to where it all began.

It was 1998 when Pryce made his debut for his home-town club as a raw 16-year-old in the final game of the Super League season.

"It was against Salford and I didn't play that great, to be honest," said the former Queensbury amateur.

"I remember getting one high ball in the right-hand corner and, as I was on the wing, I thought 'I better catch it', which I did.

"That was the first step in getting the nerves out of the way and I just remember it being really fast. It's only really now when you start looking back that it feels like forever ago.

"You see these young kids coming through who were born in the late nineties and you realise how long ago it was! But I'm still enjoying my rugby and I still feel like a kid myself."

Since making his bow almost 17 years ago, Pryce has become one of Super League's most successful players.

He was part of the all-conquering Bradford side, won everything with St Helens and, after three seasons with Catalans, is currently plying his trade with Hull FC.

But Bradford will always be home to the 33-year-old, who explained: "I love coming back to Odsal. It's my home-town club and I grew up two minutes down the road.

"I still only live five minutes away now and I used to be a ballboy here. It's the club I supported since I was eight, so it will always be home to me.

"I'm a home boy as it is and I've enjoyed being back in Bradford and getting back into English culture after my time in France.

"Both my kids can speak French, my wife can speak a tiny bit and I can speak even less! But it's fantastic for my kids to be able to come back here and speak French. It sets them up for life, really."

After turning down the opportunity to rejoin the Bulls in the wake of the club's relegation, Pryce signed a two-year deal with Hull. He expects to play on beyond that and is forging a promising partnership with fellow new arrival Marc Sneyd.

Pryce said: "As soon as my body tells me I can't perform to a decent level, then I'll look at stopping. But while I still feel good, mentally fresh and am enjoying my rugby, then I'll keep on going. It's as simple as that.

"Could I play for the Bulls again one day? Maybe, I would never say never. It just all depends on the body."

While many of his former Bradford team-mates have gone into coaching, Pryce is unsure what path he will take when he finishes playing.

"I help out at West Bowling but coaching is a pretty tough job – it's for crazy people I reckon!" he said.

"As players at Bradford, we came through a good system with Brian Smith, Matty Elliott and Brian Noble. We had years of a winning culture in a system that was proven to work and a lot of players from that era have gone into coaching."

Pryce is optimistic that Jimmy Lowes can guide the Bulls back into Super League at the first attempt.

He said: "I think Jimmy and Marc Green are doing a good job. They're investing in the team and it might not have looked that way in the past couple of years, when we have seen some sides that haven't been of the standard that Bradford supporters have been used to.

"The glory days have faded out in the past five or six years but this team they now have in the Championship should be quite dominant. They should be a force to be reckoned with."

Pryce's immediate focus is on helping Hull to stop the rot after three straight defeats when they travel to Wigan tomorrow. His two tries established a 12-0 interval lead against Leeds last week before Lee Radford's men capitulated to a 43-12 loss.

The Bulls old boy said: "We can't accept our second-half performance against Leeds. Kallum Watkins tore us to shreds – but we know what Shaun Wane will have Wigan fired up. The first 20 minutes will be very fiery."