JOHN Kear admits he will be scared to look when Dane Chisholm jumps back into the Bulls firing line tomorrow.

The Aussie will feature in the Challenge Cup third-round tie with West Wales Raiders at Odsal – his first involvement since a season-ending knee injury at last year’s Summer Bash.

Chisholm, whose match time will be carefully monitored by the coach, is bursting to get back out there.

But Kear concedes there will be some nerves on the sidelines when his playmaker first joins the fray.

He said: “In all honesty, I’ll have my heart in my mouth for the first two or three collisions that Dane’s involved in.

“Once he gets through that, I’ll be very confident then that he’s right as rain and he’s going to play a great part in the rest of our season.

“He’s declared himself fit, there’s no problem with the consultant, we’re confident that his knee is structurally right and he just needs to get on the field now.

“He won’t play all the game but he will certainly play some part.”

Kear and his coaching staff have built up Chisholm’s resistance with some hit-outs in training. He feels the time is right to test him on the main stage.

“We’ve done plenty of physical work with Dane,” he added.

“He’s been involved in one, two, three-men tackles when he’s carried the ball. He’s been involved in one, two, three-men tackles when he’s made the tackle.

“But that’s in practice. Now he needs to do that in anger in a competitive game.

“I’m really looking forward to seeing him and I know he’s excited to be playing. It will be good to have him back.”

Hooker George Flanagan will make his debut, ten years after being released by his home-town club, but Kear has resisted the temptation to make too many changes for a fixture the Bulls are tipped to win handsomely.

“You shouldn’t give away first team or full international jerseys easily. They should have to be earned.

“The lads who played at York did themselves a lot of good. There will be a couple of changes but not many.”

West Wales were left red-faced last weekend by the late call-off of their League One opener against Newcastle. But Kear reckons that will fire them up even more against the Bulls.

He added: “I know a couple of their lads, who’ve played for me at international level, and they’ve just signed Steve Parry, who was the hooker in the World Cup.

“They are all very competitive people. They will have been more disappointed than anyone else not to play last week and will be absolutely itching to get out on the field tomorrow.

“That’s one of the reasons I’m not chopping and changing. We’ve got to make sure we win this game.

“We want to have a tickle at the Challenge Cup and obviously the further you progress, the more prize money you pick up.

“We’re duty bound to ourselves and the fans to have a journey in the cup as well as our league campaign.

“I wouldn’t mind Wakefield at some stage. If we can get through to play them, we’ll have had a great cup run!”

As Wales international boss, Kear appreciates the struggle of the 13-man code in the Principality and hopes the Raiders, formerly the South Wales Ironmen, can establish roots in Llanelli.

“Let’s not kid ourselves. In South Wales, rugby union is the major draw even more than Swansea City and Cardiff City.

“The first ambition of young athletes down there is to play for the Ospreys or Scarlets. We’ve got to accept that.

“But there are a lot of good people working hard and a lot of talent. I hope they can stabilise.

“The good thing about the set-up is that they’ve got their own ground and any revenue they can generate.

“It might well take a long time but I’m certain they are on the right route.”