Steve Menzies is gearing up for his first taste of the famous Bulls/Rhinos rivalry.

The Australian has yet to experience what many people believe is the game’s biggest derby but will soon get an idea when Friday night’s game gets underway.

Menzies, 35, heard about it almost immediately after arriving from Sydney over the winter.

“The first day I got here I was taken out in Leeds for some Yorkshire pudding,” said the former Manly second-row.

“They told me all about the Rhinos being Bradford’s main rivals and it remains one of my first impressions after arriving.

“It is going to be a big night tomorrow and I’m looking forward to experiencing it all.”

The Good Friday showdown kicks-off the traditional hectic holiday period, which is alien to Menzies, who had played all his previous football in the less congested NRL calendar.

“I’ve never experienced this Easter weekend thing,” he added.

“It’s a tough period of football with four matches inside two weeks but everyone has it.

“It’s a very physical time and this is just the beginning of it all.

“Obviously Leeds are going better than us in the table and we must improve in some areas after our recent results.

“We’ve got better attacking-wise over each of the last three weeks but we are struggling to stop teams getting a roll on and that’s what we’re working on sorting.”

When Menzies touched down his fourth try of the season in Perpignan last Sunday, everyone must have thought the Bulls were storming into the Carnegie Challenge Cup fifth round.

It put them 26-0 ahead but then came that spectacular collapse which the former Test forward struggles to explain. “I don’t think I’ve ever been involved in anything like that,” Menzies conceded.

“We’ve got to learn from these mistakes. Doing it a couple of weeks in a row is really disappointing.

“We’re scoring points fine and getting ourselves in good positions to win matches but just not finishing them off.

“I think everyone had a part to play in the way we played and lost last week.

“It’s a bit of a combination of mental and physical aspects but it all comes down to the little things, the one and two per cents that everyone does to help ride the ship.”

Menzies was mainly used to great effect off the bench in the latter part of his glorious Manly career but he has found himself doing full stints at Bradford.

It was never meant to be the case for the new arrival and he admitted: “Over the last couple of years I’ve not been used to playing 80 minutes but it’s just the way things have been going.

“We can’t seem to get through a game without having someone injured and missing a week but hopefully we’ll have Dave Solomona back soon and Deacs as well.”