ADAM O’Brien insists he is far from the finished product as he aims to continue his outstanding form against hometown club Halifax tonight.

The hooker has emerged as arguably the Bulls’ most influential player this season after being asked by Jimmy Lowes to play 80 minutes most weeks.

O’Brien has blossomed under the guidance of the legendary former Bradford hooker and is understood to have attracted admiring glances from Super League sides.

Yet the 21-year-old academy product is focused solely on helping the Bulls to promotion this season and producing the goods on a regular basis.

He said: “Jimmy came in last year and said he wanted an 80-minute hooker and I’ve continued that into this season.

“I thought I came into a bit of form at the end of the year and I was enjoying myself.

“I’ve gone through pre-season and yes, I’m doing alright this year, but I’m not big-headed because I’ve still got a lot to work on.

“I’m still only young and will just keep looking forward to the challenges that Jimmy is setting me.

“I’ve got a lot of expectation on me with the legacy that Jimmy left at the club and his legendary status.

“There is a lot for me to try and develop in to but I don’t get too far ahead of myself.

“I take every week as it comes and will hopefully progress and perform for the team.”

Lowes dismissed the Summer Bash concept this week but O’Brien says he cannot wait to run out at Bloomfield Road this evening.

Moreover, he thinks the inaugural event, which will see every match televised by Sky Sports, is a positive development for rugby league.

“It will be a massive weekend and I’m really looking forward to the game,” said the former Siddal amateur.

“When you’re in Super League, you have the Magic Weekend and they have brought in this Summer Bash for Championship clubs.

“It’s massive for rugby league so I think ourselves, Halifax and all the other teams playing this weekend will relish the challenge.”

The Bulls beat their near neighbours at Odsal on Good Friday after overturning Halifax’s 13-2 lead to run out 32-19 winners.

“It’s going to be a good test,” said O’Brien.

“When we played Halifax at home, they came out and they gave it to us in the first half.

“In the second half we got back into it and got the win eventually.

“We will expect the same from them this weekend and it’s interesting with it being at a new venue in Blackpool.”

Much has been made of the Bulls’ struggle to put together a good 80-minute performance this season.

But they lie second in the table on the back of 11 straight league wins since the opening-day defeat at Leigh.

O’Brien reasoned: “If we perform we get the points and if we get points then it means we’re performing.

“Some weeks we have put in a good 40 minutes and then a poor 40 minutes, so we need to get it right in both halves.

“Crucially, we’re getting the points though and getting back in Super League is our aim.

“Every other side is thinking they’ve got to beat us, so we’ve had that bit of a tag on us as the team to beat.

“Every team has come flying at us, so we’ve had to stick to our guns in order to come away with the wins.

“Many people say it’s a drop in standard from Super League but, while the speed may not be the same, the contact is up there. It’s still 13 on 13 smashing each other.”

O’Brien can certainly be rated as one of the Bulls’ star performers this year but he attributes his displays in part to a spell in the Championship on dual-registration at Dewsbury two seasons ago.

“Everyone was like ‘it’s a bit of a backward step going to the Championship’ but I wasn’t playing here at the time,” said O’Brien.

“I had Heath L’Estrange and Matt Diskin in front of me, so to go there and play those games in the Championship against grown men really did develop me as a player. It helped progress my career and get me to where I am now.”