JOHN Kear has sensed an extra willingness from the rugby league community to aid the Bulls since the change in ownership.

Kear believes his new bosses are restoring faith in the club with their “principled” approach.

And that has extended to the leg-up being offered with recruitment as he looks to swell numbers after the special measures were lifted.

Kear said: “There will be other new faces coming in and we’re working hard at that.

“There will be a clutch of signings that we will announce and I’m sure people will be pretty happy with them because I am.

“There are other clubs who are going out of their way to help us progress.

“That may well not have happened six months ago but it is now.

“I’m confident we’ll have a very competitive squad. I believe we will not only perform to our abilities but exceed expectations.”

Kear admits he is far happier as Mark Sawyer, interim chairman Eric Perez and Nigel Wood try to repair the damage after the huge debts left under Andrew Chalmers.

“I think the new owners have done a great job in settling things down and bringing a bit of principle back to the place,” he added.

“They are standing by promises made by the previous administration and just going about things in a good way.

“It’s certainly settled me down and I think it’s been the same with the players.

“Now it’s obviously a matter of us really concentrating on the performance side.

“We can just get on preparing for next season confident that other things will look after themselves in a positive manner.”

The Bulls ownership is inevitably attracting scrutiny because of their links with other clubs. Former RFL chief executive Wood’s involvement has come in for particularly heavy criticism after his family were announced as major shareholders.

“They have to be strong characters and I’m pretty certain they will be,” added Kear.

“Yes, they will take some flak. But I’m much happier when I’m speaking to players now about what the club stands for and how we are going to progress.

“Unbeknown to the performance staff, we’d promised York a pre-season game.

“We arranged the Castleford, Leeds and Dewsbury games without knowing that.

“But when this was brought to the attention of the new administration, we fulfilled our obligation.

“That shows the direction in which we are going. We are keeping our word.

“It builds trust and respect and allows you to deal with things in a much more friendly way.”