GEORGE Flanagan savoured the Bulls promotion and roared: “We’re back on the horse.”

The homegrown hooker scored one of the six tries in today’s 27-8 win over Workington in the League One play-off final at Odsal.

Flanagan admitted he was welling up afterwards in front of the celebrating crowd.

He said: “I got a little bit emotional in front of all the fans.

“I knew as a fan watching the team before how much it hurts seeing what Bradford’s gone through.

“But we’re back on the horse now. Full credit to the fans who have stuck with us through thick and thin because they’ve been magnificent.”

The former Bulls junior, who was in the same academy team as Sam Burgess, returned to the club from Hunslet in February. He could not predict how his season would pan out.

“I envisaged my career finishing at Hunslet and I enjoyed my time there,” he said. “But when Bradford came calling, it was a no-brainer.

“This feeling I’ve got inside now is just incredible. It’s pure elation.

“As a fan, I’ve been through it with this club. Now I’m part of that team that goes down in history as putting Bradford back on the map.

“It’s a really special bunch of young, talented players at this club and hopefully it’s going to be better.”

The hefty local contingent within the squad has made it feel even more special for Flanagan.

“It’s the eagerness in the belly of all those lads from Bradford because they know what this club’s been through.

“For 80 minutes, we genuinely didn’t think about Workington. Yeah they beat us twice but it was never a revenge game – it was just getting this great club back up the leagues.

“We knew we were going to start a journey this year.

“We were everybody’s cup final and they were going to raise their game against us, whether it was Hemel, Coventry or Workington.

“Every one of those players coming to Odsal have wanted to turn the Bulls over. This is one of the biggest clubs in rugby league history.

“And a team with the majority of Bradford lads has got them back up. We need to build on this now and hopefully have a good year in the Championship.”