JOHN Kear is confident of riding any short-term pain with the Bulls for potential long-term gains.

The veteran coach is having to call on all his experience with the club’s recruitment drive after being banned from making signings when the club were in special measures.

With the RFL block lifted since the new ownership took over, Kear has been playing catch-up compared with their Championship rivals.

But he feels it is a small price to pay as the Bulls look to repair the damage from the financial turmoil left by Andrew Chalmers.

Kear said: “Yes, we’re behind with recruitment but that’s bound to happen.

“But I’d sooner the club be in a financially stable manner and for us then to start recruiting late than to be otherwise.

“It’s far better than for us to recruit and not be able to afford them.”

Kear has brought in two new faces so far after praising the support that some other clubs have offered to get the Bulls back on their feet.

He admits negotiations with possible recruits have got easier since the change at the top.

“When you work with people, you build up a relationship with them,” added Kear.

“The players we’ve got are good people who have got good values and morals and work hard. You want to be right with them.

“It was difficult but that’s in the past and we’ve got to look to the future.

“We’ll be happy to overcome the short-term difficulties in order to have the long-term gains. I’m certain we’ll have that.”