JOE Keyes has backed Bulls coach John Kear's philosophy about players having to fight for their shirt.

The Ireland international believes healthy competition in the team is good as he reflected on a crushing victory over West Wales Raiders in the third round of the Challenge Cup.

Keyes said: "John has made it clear that no-one's place is set in stone. It makes you train hard and motivates people."

The half-back could form a pairing with either Dane Chisholm, who returned to action on Sunday after knee surgery last summer, or Brandon Pickersgill, who does not turn 21 until the end of March.

Keyes said: "It was good to see Chizz out there again and get through okay – and Pickers was fantastic again, as he always is.

"Hopefully Chizz and myself will gel over the next few weeks, if we get picked, but it is never an overnight thing."

Keyes kicked 11 of his 15 goal attempts in the 82-6 win against West Wales but was not one of the eight players to get over the whitewash.

"It is nice to score them but I just want to do my job for the team," said 22-year-old Keyes.

While the Bulls showed their attacking prowess with 15 tries, it was not a complete performance.

Keyes said: "We know what we can do with the ball; put our foot on people's throats and put them to the sword.

"We played some good stuff – we showed that in pre-season – but it could be better and we just need to get rid of those scrappy periods and fix up where it isn't going too well."

Scoring over 80 points is not too shabby, yet it shows the mindset of the Bradford players that they were miffed about not keeping a clean sheet.

Keyes said: "We spoke about the nil, and to only concede six points in 80 minutes of rugby is a big thing, but we are disappointed with the one try that we conceded.

"John (Kear) has spoken about our defence and that is an area that we pride ourselves on and is one thing that we want to fix up for next week."

As for missing four kicks, Keyes laughed: "I will be out on the paddock this week practising those from out wide."