At the Bulls’ training HQ at Tong on Tuesday morning, Luke Gale spoke of the importance of beating Hull FC tomorrow night.

He talked of how the recent performance against Wigan had encouraged hopes that Francis Cummins’ men are ready to hit top form; that they could yet end the season in the play-offs for the first time since 2008.

But it all felt insignificant compared to what Gale has been through in recent weeks and months.

During the last weekend of June, his mother Gail passed away after a fight with cancer.

“My mum was a massive part of my career,” said the Bulls playmaker, a hugely popular member of Cummins’ squad.

“Since I was six years old, she took me the length and breadth of the country to every game.

“Even when I was at London she still came to most games.

“I owe a massive part of what I’ve achieved to my mum because she was always there for me. She followed my career right from day one.”

Gail had been attending Bulls matches to watch her son regularly this season but her condition deteriorated rapidly.

Her passing came just hours before the Bulls were due to play Warrington on June 30, which Gale inevitably missed.

“She got diagnosed at the back end of last year,” said Gale, whose family hail from Middleton in south Leeds.

“She was okay but then started getting worse and we knew she was poorly. We just didn’t expect it so soon.

“I texted Franny at about six o’clock in the morning on the day of the Warrington game and he texted me back. We spoke about what had happened and it just put everything into perspective.”

Support from Cummins and his team-mates has helped Gale to cope with his monumental loss.

In fact, the 25-year-old was back in training and mixing with team-mates again just two days after his mother’s passing.

Gale said: “Franny gave me a few days off but I just wanted to be in here with the lads. It’s a way of taking your mind off it, if that’s possible.

“The boys have been fantastic and Franny as a coach has been unbelievable.

“It was my mum’s funeral last week and all the boys attended, which was great.

“A lot of my family were very proud and said how great it was of all the boys to be there – and it was.

“But that’s what Bradford is like – a big family – and I’m proud of every one of them.”

After giving their best performance for weeks in the defeat to Wigan last time out, there is still belief in Cummins’ squad that they can embark on a sequence of positive results to claim a top-eight finish.

England Knights man Gale said: “Wigan was a step forward on the form we had been showing.

“We’d had a good week going into that game and Franny had given us a kick up the backside.

“We just didn’t quite have enough possession in the second half and we just got run out of it in the end, which was disappointing. But the boys worked for each other like I’ve not seen all year.

“That performance has given us a good platform going into this week’s game against Hull.”

Gale is still feeling the effects of the ankle ligaments injury which forced him to miss the start of the season but looked close to his best form at the DW Stadium.

He looks certain to be reunited with fit-again Jarrod Sammut in the halves against the Black and Whites tomorrow night.

“If we can beat Hull, it gives us a massive chance to get into the play-offs with five games remaining and three of those at home.

“I think we always play a bit better at Odsal, so if we can get two points tomorrow night, who knows what could happen?”