JOHN Kear admitted Featherstone out-smarted the Bulls after his side suffered their second loss of the season in a Tetley’s Stadium mudbath.

Rovers, who Kear has tipped to be a Championship force this season, emerged 30-22 winners after a spirited contest in tough conditions.

“I thought it was a really good game in the conditions,” said the Bulls coach. “It was very heavy underfoot and a gale-force wind blowing but there was a lot more rugby played than I’d expected.

“There were some good tries but there were also some scruffy ones. Craig Hall was very smart when he just dumped the ball down on to the ground and they reacted quickest twice.

“We pressured them on the last-tackle plays and they came up with a scruffy end – but it worked out for them.

“Credit to our players for their effort and enthusiasm. But perhaps we could be a bit smarter when we were dealing with the outcomes.

“Their last try was well-worked but perhaps we needed to react a little better early in the passage of play with the others.”

The Bulls scored four tries, coming back from 12-0 down to level and then closing within two points with eight minutes to go.

Kear added: “I really felt the momentum was with us. But then we didn’t complete that set.

“I think that was a sign of our youthful naivety. One of the younger men tried to offload and it was never on.

“We ended up then with a scrum and from the next set, they’ve scored and taken the game away from us.”

The crowd at their temporary Dewsbury home of 3,640 was almost a thousand up on the opening game against London after groundsman Paul Moore worked from early morning to make the pitch playable.

Featherstone coach James Webster said: “It was a blast from the past for some of those guys. Some of the young kids have never played in conditions like that.

“It went back to the early ‘90s, late ‘80s when you had to slug it out. It probably suited Bradford better because they are a bigger middle.

“I rate Bradford really highly. Their pre-season form in the trial games was outstanding and I thought they played well against London.

“I think they are going to be a really strong and competitive team this year. We never could kill them off.

“I rate the two young half backs, I can see why Hull KR bought Rowan Milnes. He reminds me of Paul Cooke at a similar age and he’s going to be a talent.

“I know there are a plenty of people talking up (Brandon) Pickersgill at the moment. They are going to be a competitive side.”