SAM Hallas admits the Bulls have never recovered from their "demoralising" 12-point penalty.

The former Leeds hooker, one of the few players already contracted for next year, felt the punishment from the Rugby Football League proved a major psychological blow that affected the whole squad.

Hallas said: "There's been no point in looking at the league table. We had a run earlier in the year when we won a few games but saw we were still on minus points. We were still bottom of the league and had a long way to go.

"It's been demoralising. You think you are getting somewhere but you're still bottom and not even on zero. That's why it will be nice next year to be on a level playing field again."

With relegation already confirmed, Odsal's lowest crowd of the season witnessed the latest home defeat to Batley on Monday.

Hallas, who scored his second try in consecutive weeks, has already got his head round the prospect of playing in some of the game's outposts in League One.

He is happy to be shot at as the prized scalps in the third tier that everyone will want to beat.

Hallas said: "Bradford are a big noise in rugby league. I suppose they still are a big team and a well-known franchise. For teams like Oxford and Hemel to come up here and play against the Bulls at Odsal is going to be a bit of a cup final.

"There's going to be pressure on us to win every single game obviously, because it's a Bradford team against lesser opposition. Every game is going to be tough because of that and we can't take it lightly.

"We're not going to win every week just because we're Bradford Bulls. We've still got to show up and put in an 80-minute performance."