STEVE Ferres has revealed how Rohan Smith ticked every box in the selection process to become the new Bradford head coach.

Smith has quit his job as Gold Coast Titans assistant coach to take the reins at Odsal on a three-year deal.

He beat off competition from Dewsbury boss Glenn Morrison, Oldham’s Scott Naylor and ex-Melbourne head coach Matty Adamson.

Bulls managing director Ferres said Smith’s track record of working with and developing younger players weighed heavily in his favour.

But it went deeper as Ferres explained: “John Bastian is our head of youth and the Bulls Foundation support the work that John does with young players and their education.

“That is the catalyst for the club moving forward so we can get the young kids coming through as we did previously with the likes of John Bateman and Elliott Whitehead and prior to that Jamie Langley and Brett Ferres.

“We’ve had them and let them go, but that trend must stop.

“We want to build on the foundations of our young talent so when we recruited a coach, we deemed it important that he could not only coach and develop first-team players, but was also capable of developing the youth within our squad.

“We drew up an extensive list of further requirements which included man-management skills with players and staff, player recruitment, junior development and mentoring and developing other coaches.

“Others areas included strength and conditioning, planning defensive and offensive systems and structures, research and presentation of gameplans, video analysis and wrestling techniques.

“There is the ability to work with the media, a sound understanding of player development at all ages, and an ability to implement strategies and report to the board of directors.

“These qualities are required to take us a level where we should be and to keep us there.

“Through all the applicants, Rohan met all those requirements better than anyone else.”

Smith has served an apprenticeship which includes over a decade in the NRL and two years in Super League.

Ferres added: “During that time he has done video analysis, worked as a kicking coach, an assistant coach, and as a lifestyle coach in areas such as nutrition, media training and fitness training.

“Rohan has a huge appetite to learn and has worked as an assistant coach in the NRL and in Super League with London.

“He’s also coached the Tonga national side, so if anyone has served their apprenticeship, it is him.

“Furthermore, he has had some great mentors in Matty Elliott, Daniel Anderson and Trent Robinson – the list goes on and the guy is just a sponge for information.

“Rohan now needs to develop and hone his skills with his own team and he has some longevity to do that here at Bradford, hence we’ve given him a three-year deal.”

Smith’s more immediate task will be to revive a team who have won only three of their last nine games as he bids to transform the Bulls into serious promotion contenders.

Ferres said: “Rohan knows what he remit is, that’s common sense, but at the end of the day he’s got to pick up from where we are now, instil confidence in the players and mould the team as he sees fit.

“He’s under no illusions as to what is expected and what he wants to deliver.”