LEON Pryce's criticisms of Australia during Great Britain's tour Down Under in 2006 proved he was not afraid to speak his mind.

Pryce infamously declared he would rather be in Bradford than at the tourists' five-star Manly hotel and said that he preferred Blackpool to Bondi Beach.

His words prompted the Sydney Morning Herald headline: 'Beach wail: whingeing winger bags Australia' and a familiar outpouring of invective.

Yet Pryce has long commanded respect on the other side of the world, as Bulls head coach Rohan Smith explained: "People in the NRL always thought Leon was going to come out and play there.

"The general consensus was 'when's he coming?' but obviously he stayed in the Super League and dominated it with several different clubs.

"He's accomplished everything and I would imagine he's in the top echelon of players who have performed to a very high level over a long period of time in the British game."

Pryce will be back where it all started next season as he returns to Odsal after over a decade away.

He will be partnered by Dane Chisholm and Smith said: "They will be the first-choice pairing and Joe Keyes will take his opportunities when he gets them during the season.

"Joe is here for the long-term, so he is seen as a potential half-back at the club for a long time.

"He will learn to improve and grow around these guys – but it's a long season so we need the quality rotation to get us where we want to be. It's exciting to have real competition and competitiveness at training.

"A lot of players who have come through the Bradford system know about Leon. Those guys will certainly respect him because he's achieved pretty much everything in the game and been in some great programmes and gone to different clubs for different challenges.

"I believe he can help us to progress and I'm confident he has plenty of life left in those legs yet. I have been on the receiving end of some of Leon's performances when I was at London Broncos.

"He has still done a really good job in the footage I've seen of him at Hull this year."

There is talk that Pryce could take up a coaching role at Odsal when he retires at the end of next season.

Smith said that, while Pryce's main focus in 2017 will be as a player, he would like the 34-year-old to spend time working with the Bulls' under-16s and the under-19s.

"If that's the path he wants to go down, then I think Leon could be a great coach and I would love to help contribute to that," said Smith, whose Bulls side host Swinton in their latest Championship Shield match tomorrow.

"He's been coached by some excellent people and some coaches lead players towards being coaches.

"But it's important that we don't focus on the future too much because first and foremost it's about Leon performing strongly for us next season and turning a lot of matches into wins."

Pryce left Bradford for St Helens at the end of 2005 because he wanted to play regularly as a stand-off.

Smith said: "I'm not sure where else we would use him other than the halves. He and Dane will work together there, whether that be as a six or a seven.

"I'm more interested in these guys building a combination where you see them on both sides of the field at first and second receiver and getting the ball from the dummy half. There will be some variety and we will look to play to Leon's strengths."