THE Yorkshire Cup has sharpened up pre-season preparation for the Bulls.

That’s the view of Rowan Milnes ahead of Sunday’s final against Batley.

Milnes booked the Bulls’ trip to Mount Pleasant with the match-winning penalty in a competitive contest against Dewsbury at Odsal last week.

And the teenager believes the added tournament feel introduced to the friendlies has given an extra edge to the warm-up programme.

Milnes said: “It brings a purpose to the pre-season. You could see the crowd really got into the game.

“Normally if you’ve just got your friendlies there’s nothing to play for. But this brings a bit of meaning to the games.

“Us taking the two points with 12 minutes to go shows there’s something more there. If it was just a friendly, we’d probably roll on and play for the performance.”

Milnes is looking to put himself forward in John Kear’s half-back thinking for the new Championship campaign and he is not the only talented teenager knocking on the door.

Matty Storton, who broke into the first team at the end of last year, is again looking strong. Olly Wilson and Alix Stephenson have also reminded everyone of the constant talent being churned out by the club academy.

Storton’s form is threatening Matty Garside for a starting spot – and Milnes is not surprised.

He added: “I played with Stozza at (under) 19s and he’s a class player. He’s got no problems stepping up and showed that last year when he came into the side and really took his chance.

“It’s the same with Olly. He’s a big, tough guy and has shown he can handle it with the big boys.

“There’s plenty of talent coming through on that production line.

“I think it’s exciting because we’ve come through the academy together. If we all stick together, hopefully we can be that next generation.

“There’s a good bond between the boys in the first-team squad, as a whole. You can see that, especially in our defence.

“We are as one and teams are going to have to bring something special to get past us.”