ANGRY John Kear accused the Bulls of “giving in” after their 42-4 thumping at Featherstone.

The coach was fuming following the second-half collapse which saw his side concede 30 unanswered points in the final quarter of the game.

Kear blasted: “It’s embarrassing. We just stopped playing in the last 20 minutes.

“I applauded their efforts for the first 60 because Featherstone dominated field position in the first half and we worked really hard.

“We got back in the game and had them under a bit of pressure – and then just collapsed. It’s very worrying.

“We had the ball for about nine or 10 tackles after that and were making first-tackle errors. We just gave in.

“I thought we were mentally and physically soft in the last quarter.”

Dane Chisholm inspired Featherstone’s win with a hat-trick against his old club, who have now lost three on the bounce in the Championship.

Kear admits that some tough questions need to be asked ahead of next weekend’s Challenge Cup quarter-final against Halifax at Odsal.

“It could have been a really exciting and positive week building up to what we’ve got,” added Kear.

“But I think perhaps some of them have been building up to that for the past couple of weeks. They might not be playing after that.

“There are ways you get in the team and ways you get out – and one of the ways you get out is by turning that in.

“If the game lasted 60 minutes, we might be saying things differently. But it doesn’t and they absolutely caned us in that last quarter.

“It’s disappointing and we’ve let ourselves down.”

Kear refused to use injuries as an excuse after losing Jake Webster, Dalton Grant, Rowan Milnes and Ross Peltier - who dropped out an hour before kick-off through illness - from his team plans.

He said: “That’s not the reason. It’s 17 blokes against another 17 blokes and allegedly we’re of the same standard.

“It didn’t look like that in the last 20 minutes. We looked like a League One team playing in the Championship.”

James Green faces at least a month out after tweaking the ACL in his knee during the first half.

Meanwhile, Chisholm took to social media after the match to dismiss rumours that he and Kear did not get on.

The Aussie left Bulls for Featherstone on loan in April before making the deal permanent this month.

He tweeted: "Let me clear up the JK talk. Everyone questioning it makes it worse than what it is. We didn’t suit each others style, we didn’t ever not get along. Seen him today and said our hellos. These things happen. It’s rugby league. Let’s move on."