When the Bulls won 20-12 at Castleford on a snow-covered pitch back in February, the success was founded on a collective desire.

Seven days after their opening-day horror show against Catalan Dragons, the Bulls found the perfect response at a sub-zero PROBIZ Coliseum.

They answered the doubters who questioned their stomach for the fight and showed no little character to eke out victory in truly awful conditions. Jarrod Sammut, who dovetailed effectively with Luke Gale, touched down in the early exchanges.

Tom Burgess capped a fine display with a try on the stroke of half-time and the effervescent Brett Kearney, who was all things to the Bulls that day, got the score he deserved late on.

“We’ve improved tenfold from that second-round clash, where we probably weren’t the better team,” recalled Kearney ahead of tonight’s return match at Odsal.

“We gave Cas a lot of ball but what won us the game was our fighting spirit. Now we’ve got to be smarter and win with our footballing abilities. It would be great to do the double over them.

“Cas are a very unpredictable team but they have quality and some great young players. Rangi Chase and Danny Orr in the halves can hurt you.”

Kearney returned to the side after a five-match injury absence against Leeds during last weekend’s Magic Weekend defeat.

Elliot Kear had performed well in the previous two games but there is no doubt that Kearney is the Bulls’ first-choice last line of defence.

Kearney said: “Full back is a major position in the team and, during the off-season, the person that was training alongside me at full back was Paul Sykes. Now Sykesy’s on loan at Wakefield, it threw a bit of a spanner in the works.

“From what I saw and heard, Elliot Kear held his ground quite well at full back at London and Salford. But I’m very happy to be back, especially playing a game like that at the Etihad Stadium last weekend.

“Now we’ve got Cas, St Helens, a week off and then it’s into the business end of the season. Despite all the injuries, I know that the players we put on the field will do a good job.”

Kearney, meanwhile, says Adrian Purtell will be given all the support he needs from his team-mates as he recovers from the heart attack suffered in the aftermath of the Leeds game.

He reflected: “The last few days have been a case of sitting back and take a look at things. Thankfully for Adrian, he’s pulled through really well.

“Nobody seemed quite sure what was happening on the coach last Sunday. Adrian had a wet towel on his head and we had just played in hot conditions.

“We thought it was a bit of dehydration or heat stroke. When we found out he’d had a heart attack, it was obviously a shock.

“It’s a little bit frightening but Adrian is out of hospital now and he’s got the boys’ support. Everyone is happy that he’s looking healthier and hopefully he can continue in that vein.

“We’re definitely going to miss him as a team but as long as he’s healthy and recovering, then I think everyone’s going to be happy.”