Coach John Kear insists his Bradford Bulls players are ready to hit the ground running in tomorrow’s Betfred League One opener at York City Knights – and believes the lessons of a gruelling pre-season schedule have been learned.

Wins against Halifax RLFC and Sheffield Eagles kicked off Kear’s reign, before attritional battles against Toronto Wolfpack and Dewsbury Rams provided some harsh realities.

Finally, last Sunday’s titanic tussle with Keighley Cougars left the 63-year-old under no illusions as to how tough life will be in 2018.

The Cougars – under Kear’s former assistant Craig Lingard – were aggressive and physical in a derby encounter that boiled over despite it only being friendly.

And Kear, who hails the Bulls’ pre-season as extremely productive, is calling on those in red, amber and black to maintain their attitude and energy levels to ensure a winning start.

“The squad is mentally and physically prepared after a tough pre-season and we are really looking forward to it,” said the head coach.

“This league has a few difficult challenges for us, we will take it one game at a time by no means are we going to storm this league as many are predicting.

“The Keighley game showed me that we are more than ready, we executed everything we wanted in terms in attack and defence.

“We will prepare ourselves for 26 finals and this is the first of them.

“We obviously have our eyes sight on promotion by the end of the season.

“Pre-season was extremely productive and we are on a good wavelength, we are really bouncing off each other at the minute.

“I am looking for the lads to carry the attitude and energy levels displayed into Sunday’s game, that is the only way we will emerge with two points.”