LEE Gaskell admits he is disappointed at the departure of Harry Siejka but has reiterated his own commitment to the Bulls.

Siejka was released from Odsal last week and has headed home to Australia, despite having 12 months left to run on his contract.

Gaskell feels his half-back partner was unfairly treated by a section of Bulls fans and would have liked to see him stay and prove his worth to the club.

He said: "It was a bit of a surprise that Harry left. I only found out on the day he got released and I didn't know he was going or what his intentions were.

"It's disappointing that he's gone because I think he still had a lot to prove. He had a bad injury last season and people kind of judge you after a couple of games.

"But it was a new team he was settling into and I think he was unfairly criticised. He always played with his heart on his sleeve and I think he did well for us. But it's just one of those things.

"I don't know if Jimmy (Lowes) is planning to bring in a replacement but if not, then we have quality players such as Adrian Purtell and Danny Addy who are more than capable of doing a good job there."

Gaskell was officially recognised as the best player outside of Super League last season when he was crowned the Kingstone Press Championship player of the year.

He achieved the award despite missing several weeks of the season with a broken jaw and an injury sustained during the defeat at Wakefield in round two of the Qualifiers.

But he is now fully fit again and says he is raring to go as the Bulls seek to win promotion in 2016.

The former St Helens stand-off said: "I'm fully fit now and my body is feeling good. I'm back to normal and where I want to be.

"Everyone seems to have come back for pre-season in good shape and I think we will start the season strongly.

"We've only had four weeks off, so people are coming back a bit fresher than what they normally would after six or seven weeks off.

"It was disappointing the way the season ended – but we've just got to put that behind us now and go again because the fans deserve it.

"I'm not being disrespectful to the Championship but it's not somewhere I want to be after this season. I want to be back in Super League with Bradford.

"Things didn't work out last season but I'm more than happy to stay here and fight for the cause again. It's going to be tougher than last season but we need to have a big push and work even harder."