JACOB Trueman has been hailed as an "unbelievable talent with the world at his feet" as he prepares to potentially make his senior Bulls debut.

The Bradford-born stand-off has been included in the 19-man squad for tomorrow's visit of Swinton and could partner fit-again Lee Gaskell in the halves.

The 17-year-old Trueman, who played his amateur rugby for West Bowling, has earned his chance after impressing in a handful of appearances for Matt Diskin's under-19s this season.

Diskin will pick the senior side for the final time, with new head coach Rohan Smith due to land in time to have a watching brief tomorrow before taking formal charge on Monday.

"We have two very talented young half-backs at the club in Jacob Trueman and Zac Baker and we have one or two more behind them as well," said Diskin, who will tell the players the team today.

"Given that it's an area where we're not the strongest in, it was a prime opportunity in my last week in charge to give somebody that experience.

"Zac is struggling with injury at the moment but Jacob is an unbelievably naturally talented player.

"He's got a wow factor about him and his challenge is to get some consistency in his performances, which is always tough when you're a young kid.

"Jacob has the world at his feet but he's quite an inverted character and not the most vocal, yet that consistency will come with experience.

"Talent-wise, he's one of the most talented players in the club, not just the academy structure. Within our academy group, a lot of them are late developers and that's exciting.

"But in a year or two, then hopefully they can form the backbone of a Bradford Bulls team who can reach the heights of where the club were previously."

Diskin will leave Odsal at the end of the season to take over as Batley's new head coach.

But the work that the likes of Diskin, under-16s coach Leigh Beattie and head of youth John Bastian have performed should continue to hold the Bulls in good stead.

Bulls under-19s full back Joe Brown has been called up to the England Academy side to face France in Warrington on May 27.

Diskin said: "We're really proud of the job we've done as academy coaching staff in the past few years and you can see the fruition of that hard work now.

"I'm proud that I'm going to leave with a little bit of a legacy with kids coming through and handing over to some real quality coaching staff who can take them on another step.

"John Bastian and I have a list of six or seven players who we believed are ready to push on and be part of the first-team squad. It's up to the club to tie those kids up."

The Bulls are boosted by the return of Gaskell, Matty Blythe, Ben Kavanagh and Lucas Walshaw as they prepare to halt Swinton's five-match winning run.

Diskin said: "Swinton play some nice stuff and a lot of their play tends to go to their left-hand side. But the biggest hurdle for us at the moment is getting our mental state right.

"The result at London wasn't great and we underperformed at the end of a really good training week.

"We have trained exceptionally well again this week – but it's no good training like Tarzan and playing like Jane.

"We've got to start delivering a little bit and as long we go about things reasonably well, we should be assured of a top-four finish.

"But is top four good enough for this club? No, we need to be doing better and we know that.

"A new coach coming in will create a level of euphoria and the boys will be challenged immediately.

"You will see a real change to the environment, which I think is needed as well, so hopefully Rohan can give everyone a kick up the backside and point us in the right direction.

"It's a clean slate, particularly for those players who have been on the fringes because they get an opportunity now to start afresh.

"But it's challenging too because a new coach is going to come in and set some new standards, probably some higher standards, and it's going to be a very demanding environment.

"We will soon find out which ones can toe the line with that."