ROHAN Smith says tightening up the Bulls' defence will be high on his agenda heading into the 2017 campaign.

Bradford conceded an average of three-and-a-half tries per game during 2016 and Smith will work closely with his troops during pre-season in a bid to reduce that figure significantly.

The Australian spent over a decade working at clubs in the NRL, where he says there is a far greater emphasis on defence.

"Coming from the NRL, the defensive side of the game is massively important," said head coach Smith.

"I would say every single club has a far bigger focus and belief in defence winning more than attack, although I love coaching in attack as well.

"I feel in the English game that defending is the biggest area for improvement.

"The NRL instilled that in me and that was my area of focus, so I'm going to be pushing that very hard here at Bradford."

Even during their route to Championship Shield success, the Bulls conceded plenty of tries: Halifax (five), Dewsbury (four), Swinton (five), Workington (five) and Dewsbury (four).

Smith, whose squad is preparing to return for pre-season within the next week, said: "There will be a big focus on defensive strength and resilience this coming year.

"We are going to spend a lot of time in pre-season practising being uncomfortable and having to defend in those situations.

"I feel like we have improved a lot in our ability to work together. Our tackling was certainly more efficient in the last six to eight games of the season.

"We are a little way on the path towards being where we want to be defensively but we are going to have a vastly different roster as well."