DAN Caprice is due to begin his trial at the Bulls today and as a club we never stop looking to strengthen the squad with new signings.

We talk about the squad being complete and it probably was complete about a month ago.

But in reality your squad is never really complete because things change and players such as Dane Nielsen have left, which opens the door for others to come in.

I thought Dane was very solid defensively but a negative for him was that he had been out of the game for quite a while.

He hadn’t played top-class rugby league for a good few months but you could still see his quality from a defensive point of view.

He was able to direct the players around him but I think he is replaceable.

This is another opportunity to look around, both in the UK and Down Under, to scour the market and see what else is out there.

There are effectively two seasons under this new structure – the 23 regular weekly rounds and the middle eight Qualifiers.

We have to navigate the first part of the season and then ramp it up for the Qualifiers.

It’s an interesting dynamic because I remember speaking to Jimmy at the end of last season about how new it had been for him as a coach.

Some of my other old team-mates and pals in coaching said the same about the new era that was 2015.

You can say that at the end of the day it is still games of rugby league being played, but it’s not.

The restructure put new types of pressure on the playing squad and the approach of coaches because it wasn’t something anyone had experienced before.

We have all seen the play-offs at the top end of Super League before, but now it's about competing to stay in the top flight or battling to win promotion to it.

It’s a brand new set of pressures and nobody knew what was going to happen last year.

That was one of the interesting bi-products of 2015 and it makes 2016 even more exciting.

When I spoke to Jimmy, he said he was better prepared now for the challenges that lie ahead.

Certainly I am confident that we will be a better team than what we were this time last year.

Jimmy will be stronger as a coach because he’s got a clearer understanding of what to expect in front of him and how best to get the right combinations from the players so that they come together and complement one another.

We’ve added some nice little touches to the overall squad which Jimmy felt we lacked in 2015.

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I am really looking forward to the opening pre-season friendly against the Leeds Rhinos at Headingley in Carl Ablett’s testimonial on Sunday.

Leeds are our big derby rivals but we don’t get to play them in Super League any more and, with the squad they’ve got, it’s highly unlikely we will be facing them in the Qualifiers at the end of the season.

So this is our one big day out and it’s an important part of our pre-season preparations, plus it’s for a great cause as well in that it's Ablett’s testimonial.

Carl has been a great servant to the Leeds club and indeed to rugby league, so a derby against the Bradford Bulls is a great way to honour his career.

It will just be great to get some rugby league back on the field.

As a player, Headingley was my favourite ground to play at.

Interestingly, I went to a sending-off dinner for Kylie Leuluai, Jamie Peacock and Kevin Sinfield at Elland Road last year.

Sinfield was asked what was his favourite ground and he said Odsal.

For me, it was Headingley – probably because it was such a golden era during my time at the Bulls.

The majority of the games we won and it was always good going there.

It would be a packed house and the atmosphere was incredible, with the South Stand right on top of you and a massive army of Bulls fans behind the posts.

I would love scoring a try and then walking back towards the end where all the Bulls supporters were housed.

They would be going crazy and you are walking into that adulation - then you turn around and the rest of the ground is silent!

That’s sport and the excitement of those matches was something special.

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IN terms of 1863 Club memberships, we are around the 2,500 mark and getting back to where we were last year.

You will see a big push in the next couple of weeks as we move ever closer towards the first game.

One of the things I want to stress is that there is a membership for everyone.

Our members in 2015 were absolutely blown away by the opportunity to get information first, receive special discounts and a range of other exclusive benefits around games and club events.

The club has put a lot of time, effort and resources into making sure the membership works and delivers on its promises.

With the basic membership of £25, it now shows there is something for everyone.

Flexi-membership, which is £60, gives you three games of your choice and all the membership benefits.