Bulls coach Mick Potter has revealed he is leaving the club and returning home to Australia.

Potter, who joined the club on a two-year deal from St Helens, has won praise for the way he galvanised his team under adversity after the Bulls entered administration and for agreeing to work on a voluntary basis after the entire coaching staff was made redundant.

Potter said: “I was always going to return to Australia and I feel that now is the right time for me to go and I have recommended Francis Cummins as my successor.

“He has worked with me throughout my time at the club and in my opinion will become a very good first-team coach.

“I have enjoyed my time at the Bulls and the supporters and people at the club are second to none.

“I feel too that, despite circumstances beyond our control, the team, through the rugby league we played, showed a lot of character in the midst of terrible adversity.

“(New owners) Omar Khan and Gerry Sutcliffe have come in and rescued the club and were keen for me to stay for a longer tenure and I made it clear to them that my decision has nothing to do with their purchase of the club. It has been the things that have happened over the previous five months that have caused my decision.

“I will be watching Bradford Bulls with a lot of interest from Australia and it goes without saying that I wish them every success in the future.”

Khan and Sutcliffe issued a joint statement.

It read: “We are sorry Mick has chosen to leave because we wanted him to stay longer with us after the tremendous job he has done in difficult circumstances. “He leaves with the best wishes of everyone at the club and we wish him well in the future.

“We hope to be able to announce a new coach early next week.”