AFTER the worst season in living memory at first-team level, the success of the Bulls’ thriving academy is to be welcomed with open arms.

Leigh Beattie’s Under-16s have won five of their seven games this year and the Under-19s, coached by Matt Diskin, last week moved into the top four after destroying Newcastle Thunder’s academy 86-6.

The man responsible for having breathed new life into the club’s junior ranks is highly-regarded head of youth John Bastian.

Brought into the club by Jimmy Lowes in October 2014, Bastian is ably assisted by Beattie, Diskin, Robin Sharp and Mark Dunning.

As he approaches two years in the role, Bastian can reflect with pride on the progress that has made.

But his message is clear – more investment is needed from the club itself.

“We are pretty much on a baseline when it comes to funding,” said Bastian, a former head of youth of Leeds and Warrington and ex-head coach at Featherstone.

“The two administrations the club have been through in recent times have left deep scars but in the past two years we have grown stronger as an academy.

“But we have had to do it on an extremely tight budget.”

The RFL fund the Bulls’ academy to the tune of £100,000 a year and the club match that amount.

Yet Bastian admitted: “We need more, we really do, especially with the number of players that are coming through our system.

“Making our staffing structure stronger, so that we can nurture our kids better, is really important.

“I really hope we can do that because we are a hop, skip and a jump away from being a very good Bradford Bulls academy again.

“Good things are happening here but we need more investment, certainly in staffing levels.

“Facilities-wise, we’re not too bad and BullBuilder do a fantastic job in raising money that allows us to buy pieces of equipment, but we can certainly improve in that area too.

“We have done well with the investment in junior players, but again, I think we can invest more.

“If there is a player who crops up from beyond our region, then hopefully in a year or two we can start to try and attract those kind of players again, like Bradford did several years ago.

“Bradford’s youth development system under Paul Medley was always one of the best in the country.

“But overall as a club we lack class in some areas and that needs to change and improve.”

Loyal club servant Beattie, who performs a variety of roles at the Bulls, will step up to become Under-19s head coach when Diskin departs for Batley.

Dunning is in line to succeed Beattie as Under-16 coach and Bastian explained: “Mark is a Bradford lad who loves the club and is Bulls through and through.

“Leigh Beattie is the same and I cannot speak highly enough of these guys.

“They have improved as coaches over the last few years and I want to be in a position where I can pay Mark a bit for the thousands of hours he is putting in.

“Robin Sharp has done a wonderful job on the recruitment side, managing scholarship players and scouting network.

“But further down the track, I would like the Under-16s recruitment manager and scholarship organiser to be full-time.

“Certainly I want to have more investment in the sports science with analysis and statistics so we can focus solely on the Under-16s and 19s.

“I think those areas will add some superb qualities to our juniors.”

And there is no shortage of young players being nurtured in the Bulls’ academy and being tipped for a bright future.

James Bentley, Liam Kirk, Ross Oakes, Brandon Pickersgill, Josh Rickett and Brandan Wilkinson have penned professional contracts and will become part of the first-team squad next season.

England youth international Cameron Scott recently snubbed interest from four Super League clubs to commit his future to Bradford.

Bastian explained: “Cameron could quite easily have jumped ship but his heart and soul is with Bradford Bulls and he chose to stay here.

“We’ve not lost any players to any Super League clubs in the last couple of years, which is down to the culture and environment we have created here.

“But we owe these young lads a strong environment to allow them to develop and thrive. In fact, I think we should demand it.”

Head coach Rohan Smith arrived at Odsal with a notable reputation for working with players in junior systems in various programmes in the NRL.

Bastian said: “Rohan recognises the value of producing homegrown players with the right attributes who can be a big part of Bradford Bulls in the long term.

“He’s certainly embraced everything we are doing with the youth and has started to give opportunities to a lot of players already.

“He has put some new strands in place, such as rehab after games, which will benefit us long-term and add to the good work we have been doing over the last few years.

“How he communicates and takes an interest in our young players is credit to him.”