THE Bulls can thank Lee Smith's silver tongue for convincing Ashley Gibson to drop down from Super League.

The centre sought out former Leeds Rhinos team-mate Smith for confirmation once Wakefield made him aware of the Odsal interest.

All the answers were positive and left Gibson in no doubt he was making the right decision.

He said: "I had to have a bit of a think about it. I was enjoying my time at Wakey but I'm mates with some of the boys here like Lee Smith and Scotty Moore.

"I spoke to Lee quite a bit and he persuaded me to make the move.

"It's something I'm really looking forward to. There are a few signings lately and hopefully we can kick on.

"I'm getting on now, being 30, and I've played a bit of Super League, so I can bring some experience to the boys.

"It's a really young squad. I trained for the first time on Thursday and I think I was the oldest in the team.

"But there are some really exciting young lads here and hopefully with that bit of experience we can bring them on."

Gibson will make his Bulls debut against Halifax, stepping straight in for the injured Ross Oakes, and boosts a squad coming off their first win in almost three months.

He has had a taste of the Championship in a dual-registration role with Dewsbury – ironically playing at the Shay in a 34-6 loss in April.

"The team have been through a lot of adversity over the last couple of years but everyone seems in good spirits," said Gibson.

"I've heard the Championship is pretty physical but I've played a couple of games in pre-season and then was on a dual-reg at Dewsbury.

"I know it's pretty tough and there are quite a lot of good players in there, especially now with teams dropping down and how the structure of the league is.

"You've got the likes of Hull KR and a lot of teams pushing for Super League. It's quite competitive.

"It's an exciting time and I'm looking forward to starting against Halifax. It's a big local derby and I played against them for Dewsbury a few weeks back. It's a tough place to go."

Gibson has signed until the end of next season and believes working under Geoff Toovey can improve his own game.

He said: "He's got loads of experience from the NRL. He's got some good things in place and he's someone you can look up to and learn from."

Toovey added: "Ashley's friends with a couple of players here and that makes that transition a little easier.

"He's an experienced player and Bradford is a club where people want to play. It's got a lot of history and status in the game.

"I'm not surprised he's signed but I'm very grateful and hopeful that he can help us finish the year on a strong run."