JOHN Kear says his Bulls side will be going all out to reach Wembley in the 1895 Cup next season, given the scheduling is set to be much kinder than usual.

Bulls might not end up playing in the competition of course, and Kear was keen to state his side’s case for getting that spare Super League place, lauding the club’s tireless academy work.

For now though, Bradford have to be prepared for life in the Championship.

The RFL have said they hope to begin the league season in the second tier over the Easter Weekend (April 2-5), with traditional derbies and crowds, with the early stages of the 1895 Cup set to go ahead behind closed doors the month before.

And that appeals to Kear, who said: “I think those potential March games in the 1895 Cup are a great way to start the season.

“Obviously what that does is give clubs the chance to put an early marker down.

“Reaching a final at Wembley in the summer, the Challenge Cup or the 1895 Cup, is great for anyone, whether you’re a player or a coach.

“We’ll not be taking the same approach as we have in the past this time around.

“Normally, we like to use the young lads in the 1895 Cup, but that’s only because the more experienced heads need a rest and these cup games are in midweek.

“This time, they won’t have played for a year, so there’s no way they can say they’ve been overworked.

“It will be all hands on deck on this occasion.”

As for those league games set to begin the following month, Kear said: “I’d be happy to play any game at the minute, as we’re all missing rugby league a great deal.

“So it is an exciting prospect, especially the thought of having a Good Friday game against Halifax.

“Obviously there’s a few obstacles we have to clear as a society first (to get these games on), but for now we’ll just continue what we’re doing in training.”

All of that will be irrelevant if Bulls’ application for the 12th Super League spot is successful.

Kear said: “We were only sixth in the Championship last year but I thought that was a good effort after just being promoted.

“We were only one point off the play-offs too.

“I think a lot of our squad have the potential to be good Super League players, and we have a few who have already played there before.

“We feel we’re good enough, though we know we’d need to strengthen if we went up there.

“We've got funding set to come our way from the government and the RFL, so that wouldn't really put stress on the club's finances either.”

Kear added: “We can make a very good case for Bradford getting in. Look at the number of homegrown players that have come through our academy and gone on to become Super League players and internationals.

“I think there’s only London of the other applicants that have an academy. For me, to be sustainable in Super League, you need a proper infrastructure, and part of that is having an academy.

“If you look at our average crowds too, you can see what we’d bring to Super League.

“I know we don’t have our own ground at the moment, but the owner and chief executive are working hard and are hopeful we could sort something out on that at short notice.”