WITH Bradford's WBO European welterweight champion Darren Tetley in attendance, Bulls coach John Kear says that his team must be on their guard against North Wales Crusaders tomorrow – or risk suffering a knockout blow.

On paper, the Odsal clash should see the table-topping hosts make easy work of their tenth-placed visitors.

But Kear won't let complacency seep in and said: "York City Knights lost 26-18 at Whitehaven over the recent Bank Holiday weekend, but North Wales won 25-22 there in early May."

North Wales, who, like the Bulls have had a 13-day break between matches, have also put 84 points and 54 points respectively past whipping boys West Wales Raiders.

The Crusaders have also scored 40 against Hemel Stags and 42 against Coventry Bears in convincing home wins, as well as suffering narrow losses at Doncaster and Workington Town, where the Bulls lost their only Betfred League One game of the season so far.

Kear warned: "If we turn up with the wrong attitude or hope that other players will do our jobs for us it could come back to bite us.

"I know North Wales' coach Anthony Murray very well and they like to play an expansive game and will run the ball from their own half.

"In fact they have probably done better away from home than at home.

"Hooker James Dandy has plenty of experience at this level and Dale Bloomfield is another to watch."

Tetley will parade his belt and speak on the pitch at the match.

And intriguingly, businessman, racehorse owner and former Salford Red Devils owner Dr Marwan Koukash – whose wife Mandy offered to buy the Bulls before the current owners took over – will take part in a question-and-answer session after the match in the legends suite.

But Kear and his team will be more focused on avoiding letting the Crusaders make a fast start.

Kear hopes that what he has called "a mini boot camp" has set his team up for the rest of the season.

It has been almost a fortnight since the leaders won 68-0 at Hemel Stags, and Kear said: "Last week's training was really physical and was more like a boot camp.

"The players were really tested and it was like a mini pre-season for the rest of the season.

"Then they had three or four days off last weekend.

"Some of them went away in England and some of them abroad for their rest and recuperation before we came back to training to focus on the North Wales Crusaders match."

Kear knows that Crusaders are a different kettle of fish to their southern rivals West Wales Raiders.

He said: "There won't be any Welsh players in North Wales Crusaders' side because they take players from the North West Counties area in Lancashire and Cheshire, and when they set off for away matches they won't be starting from Wrexham, they will be starting from Warrington.

"But they are not like West Wales Raiders because they have players from that catchment area, which helps them when they go to away matches with a couple of hours' trips whereas West Wales have six-hour journeys.

"Geography therefore helps them, but so does the fact that they are a much more established club than West Wales."

He also dispelled fears that any of the Bulls players who figure in first-team, reserves and under-19 matches, such as Rowan Milnes, will be overplayed.

Kear explained: "We manage the workload of the players well because, although I look after the first team, Leigh Beattie looks after the under-19s and Mark Dunning the under-16s, we are all involved with all three teams and look at the long-term picture."