COREY Johnson has spelled out his no-nonsense aim with the Bulls this year: Win the league.

The Leeds Rhinos loanee is thinking big as he prepares to spend the season in the Championship.

Hooker Johnson began his third stint at Odsal in the 1895 Cup win over Swinton.

But with no game this weekend, the focus is on next Friday’s daunting trip to Wakefield to kick off the league campaign - a curtain-raiser that will immediately test the Bulls' promotion credentials.

“It should be a very tough encounter,” admitted Johnson. “Wakefield look like a very strong team this year.

“They’ve made some great signings and it will be a case of really playing to the best of our ability to put pressure on them.”

Mitch Souter will be back from his ban and Johnson is looking forward to sharing rake duties with the Australian.

“When we (Leeds) played against Bradford in the pre-season friendly, Mitch played very well. He was scrapping for everything and fighting for every loose ball.

“He’s very aggressive around the ruck and is a good player.

“For me personally, it’s a case of playing against seasoned pros every week and getting that consistency in my gametime.

“I played quite a few minutes on Sunday, which I’m pleased about, and I want to keep those numbers up.”

The Bulls will need to sharpen up if they are to pull off an eye-catching result in round one. But Johnson saw some promising signs from the way they dug in for the quarter-final victory.

“We put ourselves under pressure and ended up doing a lot of defending,” he added. “But the boys looked strong.

“I think is a good opportunity for me to get some gametime here with a very talented squad.

“It showed out there the possibilities of the group going forward. A few fix-ups and we’ll be a very strong team.”