ROHAN Smith spoke of his delight after the Bulls saw off Sheffield to lift the Championship Shield.

The hard-fought 27-16 success marked Bradford’s first piece of silverware since the 2006 World Club Challenge win over Wests Tigers.

It was a pleasing way to end a largely disappointing campaign and Smith paid tribute to his men for overcoming Sheffield’s feisty challenge.

Head coach Smith said: “It's good to reward the loyal fans who have been turning out in the last couple of months.

“I thought it was gritty at times because we lost Ben Kavanagh to an eye injury and Adam Sidlow tore his calf, so we were short of front-rowers for a large part of the game.

“We dug deep and defended quite well when we were under pressure in the second half.

“I thought we defended well enough to get the result.”

Chairman Marc Green felt the win had somehow offset the failure to reach the top four at the end of the regular season.

Smith added: “I don't know how you can measure that, but from my point of view we spoke about it after the Featherstone game.

“We talked in the dressing room about how the coming few months would determine what people are like as characters through the whole place.

“To a man, I feel everyone has contributed to a positive environment in the last few months.

“In a different situation, maybe some players and staff would have made some poor choices given that disappointment of that game and not being where we wanted to be.

“It has been productive and, even for those players who are leaving, hopefully they have got something out of the experience. It's onwards and upwards from now.”

The Bulls receive £50,000 in additional central monies next year for winning the Shield and at least another £10,000 in prize money.

A huge raft of players said farewell to Odsal yesterday but the future of Danny Addy and Mitch Clark remains uncertain following Hull KR’s relegation on Saturday.

The pair have signed for Rovers on Super League contracts but Addy is believed to be attracting interest from Wakefield while Hull KR and Bradford would both like to sign the pair.

Tom Olbison, meanwhile, is understood to be attracting interest from Featherstone and Smith said: “Danny and Mitch did a good job to play the way they did today after what happened on Saturday.

“I think that Million Pound Game took a lot out of everyone who watched it, let alone if your future was riding on it.

“It was a rollercoaster and I'm not sure of the status of those guys and their contracts.

“I've got a high opinion of both of them and we'll have to see what happens in the next few days.

“I think it's emotional at the end of every season, but when you finish with a final it's emotional because these guys have spent a lot of time together.

“It's always better to get the winning emotion rather than losing one.”

Kris Welham’s late double confirmed victory and took his try tally for the season to 30.