JOHN Kear believes he has inherited a strong-willed young breed at the Bulls after the trials and tribulations of last season.

Circumstances on and off the field meant several youngsters had to be thrown in the deep end during the Championship relegation campaign.

But new Odsal boss Kear hopes to reap the reward of that experience as they build up to take on League One.

Kear said: “You learn through success but I can say you learn a lot more through adversity and failure.

“The younger lads got slung out there. Some sank, some swam – the ones who swam will get a really good shot this year and hopefully they can progress and improve.

“There are a number of senior players but it is a young squad.

“There are young talented players in there and if they take everything on board then I think we’ll have a good season.

"I can’t wait for the Boxing Day game against Halifax to come along and the rest of pre-season. This will test their character.”

Youngster Callum Bustin joined on a season-long loan from Castleford yesterday, though Kear has hinted he will not rush into pushing Andrew Chalmers for further investment in the playing ranks as he takes a good look at the present numbers.

And the veteran coach is confident that he can work well with the Kiwi.

He added: “I’m a coach so you always want more players. Andrew has the purse strings so he’ll probably want less!

“That’s part of the toing and froing that you’ve got to do.

“But Andrew is definitely the right man for this club. The more I spoke to the guy, the more I liked him.

“And more importantly I loved the way he put the vision and the structure of the club towards me.

“He also wanted stability and all those things appealed to me.

“Yes, I really do feel he’s the right man to lead us – and I feel I’m the right man to lead us on the field of play.”

Meanwhile, Wales Rugby League confirmed in a statement yesterday that Kear will continue to coach Wales next year.

The 63-year-old said: "It was a tough World Cup but I feel like we've made a lot of progress since I took over in 2014.

"There is a planned structure to international rugby over the next couple of years and it'll provide us with an opportunity to have a real go.

"After a good season with Wakefield, it was a tough end to the year with the World Cup but I feel really energised and fresh for the challenges ahead with both Wales and Bradford."