Bulls chairman Peter Hood remains confident a coaching appointment will be finalised by the end of the month.

Interviews started last week as the club seek a successor to current boss Steve McNamara, who is on his way out of Odsal at the end of the campaign.

Hood has moved quickly since McNamara announced his intention to take up a full-time post as England coach in mid-April and is currently whittling down the list of serious candidates.

He said: “The interview process is underway and we’re still on schedule for the end of the month.

“I want to get it done by then because there are issues of player recruitment and planning that any new coach needs to oversee.

“Eventually, from the list of candidates, you would want to produce a shortlist and we’re moving towards that.

“I hope to be able to make an announcement by the end of the month but obviously that depends on several factors.

“We’re not the only club looking for a coach at the moment. Huddersfield, St Helens and Catalans are all in the same position as us.”

Hood remains tight-lipped about the identity or number of candidates for the post but Bradford are understood to have received healthy interest both at home and Down Under.

Former Bulls players Brian McDermott and Jimmy Lowes are the domestic candidates most strongly linked with the role, as well as Leigh Centurions’ Aussie coach Ian Millward.

Meanwhile, former Canterbury Bulldogs chief Steve Folkes, currently strength and conditioning coach at Wests Tigers, and ex-South Sydney boss Jason Taylor are among the names mentioned in the Australian press.