The Bulls have beaten off a host of Super League rivals to bag the signature of highly-rated Harlequins star Rikki Sheriffe.

The dangerous winger actually hails from Girlington and comes home after agreeing a two-year deal at Grattan Stadium.

Sheriffe said: “It’s a great time for me and my family. I’m born and bred in Bradford and as a kid I always wanted to go on and play for the Bulls. It’s a brilliant chance for me and now I just can’t wait for it all to start.”

A late-developing player, 24-year-old Sheriffe was tipped to potentially make England’s World Cup squad after some eye-catching displays earlier this season.

An injury slowed his progress but Bulls boss Steve McNamara is a big fan and snapped him up as his third capture for 2009.

McNamara said: “I thought Rikki was outstanding in the first half of the year and was on the verge of an England call-up. Injury prevented that but he has the potential to play internationally.

“He’s not the finished product yet but is an excellent dummy half runner, which is something we have been short of this year, and when you look at his stats he has some of the best offensive numbers around.

“Rikki’s in the top ten for making clean breaks, is up there with the numbers of tackles bust and is genuinely quick.

“He’s a Bradford lad who is very keen to get back up north and I’m looking forward to working with him.”

Younger brother Jode has just finished his first season at Odsal himself, being named the Reserve Grade player of the year.

“He’s trained a few times with the first team and given good raps about the staff and set-up,” said Sheriffe.

“But I never needed any of that. There was a couple of other top-six sides as well as Quins interested but I was only ever interested in coming to Bradford. There was no other choice.”

Bradford felt the full force of Sheriffe’s finishing prowess when he scored the winning effort against them in London last month. He ended the campaign with eight tries in 22 appearances.

With James Evans now departed to Castleford Tigers, Sheriffe is likely to battle Dave Halley in 2009 for the right wing spot outside his former Quins team-mate Paul Sykes.

Meanwhile, the signing of Quins second-rower Michael Worrincy is expected to be confirmed next week.