JOHN Kear praised his Bradford Bulls side for learning to control their emotions as Bulls bid farewell to Odsal with a 30-10 win over Sheffield Eagles.

Despite victory, Featherstone's big win over Batley put an end to Bulls' play-off hopes - but Kear said he would have “snatched your hand off” in January for the season his side have had.

He also expressed his delight for the number of Bradford players, like Brandon Pickersgill and Ethan Ryan, in his side and said he hoped that “out of towners” like himself had also done the club proud, as the team waved goodbye to the famous old ground after 85 years.

Kear said: “The players were a little too emotional involved initially and they came up with errors the first two times we had the ball.

“But as the game wore on, you could see they settled down much more. Once they’d realised they were going to win, you could see them relax and really enjoy playing.

“I know Featherstone have made sure we can’t get to the play-offs now. But if somebody had said to me that we’d come sixth in the league, if we beat Rochdale, and have a great Challenge Cup run, I’d have snatched their hand off.

“I am highly delighted with what the players have done, and obviously it’s a very emotional day today.

“We’ve had 7,500 folk come down and I’m just so pleased that we waved them off in such a good manner.

“We were very clinical in certain areas and so committed for each other. The players have done themselves proud, the coaching staff proud and the club proud.”

Asked about Bulls’ future, Kear said: “We’ve just got to keep this club alive and kicking and progressing.

“That’s what we’ll be attempting to do next year in Dewsbury before hopefully coming back to somewhere in Bradford that’s befitting a team that’s either challenging for the Super League or in the Super League.

“We’ve got 14 good players signed up for next year but I want to run with a squad of 22 or 23 so we need to nail this special measures stuff so we can get out of it.”

Addressing the Bradford streak running through the team, Kear added: “There’s Ross (Peltier), there’s Brandon (Pickersgill), there’s 'Minnie' (Elliot Minchella), there’s Steve Crossley, there’s loads that are Bradford born and bred.

“We’re really proud of our academy and homegrown players and they showed how much they cared today.

“The other lads, the out of towners such as myself, we’ve come in there and hopefully we’ve contributed as well.”