The Bulls will seek sunnier climes this winter as part of preparations for the new season.

For the first time in three years, Bradford’s players will gain welcome respite from the inevitable English cold snap by heading abroad for warm-weather training.

Mick Potter’s new-look outfit will fly out to Lanzarote on January 13 for a week-long training camp at the exclusive Club La Santa resort.

The trip will provide a vital opportunity for team bonding and extensive fieldwork ahead of the 2011 campaign, with head coach Potter keen to ensure old heads gel with the squad’s numerous new faces as soon as possible.

It also represents a significant departure from previous years’ preparations.

Ribblehead – rather than Spain – has been the Bulls’ destination in each of the past two pre-seasons but the club’s board agreed to a request from Potter to invest in warm-weather training.

“We want to do everything we can to provide the head coach with all of the tools to give us the best possible chance of achieving our objectives,” said chairman Peter Hood.

“One ingredient is warm-weather training at a world-class facility, which La Santa certainly is.

“We built this into our planning early on to give us the best possible preparation for the new season.

“There are ten new players, several of whom are in key positions, so a training camp like this is the natural progression from our early start to pre-season.”