FORMER Bulls star Glenn Morrison may be jumping into a big US adventure, but he is not ready to leave Bradford behind.

The Australian has just been named as Director of Rugby at North American Rugby League side Cleveland, with the inaugural season due to get underway in mid-June.

But he will remain in his role as head of athletics at Bradford Grammar School and is keen to keep coaching Bradford Salem next season.

He explained: "Cleveland approached me about being head coach, but I spoke about being director instead because of my school role.

"That allows me to work from this end, and travel over in the summer holidays when a lot of the season will be played.

"We're all on the same page and I've had the full backing of the school."

He added: "I'm settled here, and I feel I can do both roles, as well as the one at Salem.

"My kids are at that stage where they're starting GCSEs and college too, so my priorities still lie here.

"But depending on where the league goes and if it takes off, it might be something to reassess."

The league is still very much at an embryonic stage, but Cleveland and Morrison are making good progress.

He said: "We want to develop the local talent at our disposal, but we've still got three foreign imports to bring in.

"We want to get that right, players with a rugby league background, probably in the halves and at hooker, as they're the real brains and spine of the team.

"We've contacted loads of players and their agents and several are keen for a chat with us. But it has to be the right players, who can travel over at short notice."

Those players should be able to add their rugby league nous to Morrison's expertise, with the 44-year-old admitting he is the go-to guy at Cleveland at present.

He explained: "It's obviously all quite new to them over there, but the organisation is full of passionate people, like the head coach Monte (Gaddis) and the board.

"They're all open to learning and improving and that's why I'm on board, to do things like help develop Monte as a coach.

"A few of the boys there have played a bit of union, but some of them are just athletes.

"We're getting our testing phase done and our open trial is still going on, as like a lot of the clubs, we're still putting the squad together.

"Generally, there's plenty of interest and we're getting those athletes to improve to get ready for what will be a competitive league for people to develop their game in."

As for whether he thinks the sport can really take off in the US and Canada, Morrison said: "You saw with Toronto in the British game that people would come and support them.

"We're lucky that the fans out there love contact sport. They love that rugby league is played with no pads on, they think it's crazy.

"Even if they don't fully understand the rules they still want to watch it. Even if one per cent of the population get it on their screens, that's still a big fanbase.

"There's plenty of potential and no reason why it can't take off."