JOHN Kear was never worried about losing Joe Keyes to a rival club.
The Ireland international penned a new full-time deal last week to keep him at Odsal for the next two seasons.
There had been rumours throughout the last campaign about the 23-year-old’s future - with Halifax thought to have been keen on him.
But Kear had no concerns that Keyes could be going elsewhere.
He said: “Other teams would be right to watch him because he’s a good player. But I was really confident he would stay and I’m very glad it’s sorted.
“Joe’s still comparatively young for a half-back and certainly improved last year.
“I fully expect him to improve further in the next two years and become a really established part of the Bulls side.
“I’m absolutely delighted he has extended his deal – and I’m delighted that he’s full time as well.
“We can work on the fine details of his game in order to help him progress.”
The half-back, one of several current squad members to be tied down since the end of the season, believes the switch to playing full-time will benefit his own fitness after a couple of injury absences as the Bulls climbed straight back from League One.
His head coach added: “I would agree with that and obviously the more times we get Joe out on the field, the better we’ll be.
“We’re going to have a very good squad indeed.
“We’ll have quantity with quality and I can’t wait for next season to get underway. Let’s see where we are when we challenge the other Championship teams.”
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