NEW Featherstone coach Ryan Carr has prepared for his Odsal baptism with advice from Rohan Smith.

Aussie Carr has tapped into the former Bulls coach to find out more about what he can expect in the Championship.

Smith arrived at Odsal midway through the 2016 season to succeed Jimmy Lowes with no experience of England’s second tier – and Carr is keen to wise up fast.

The 30-year-old was recently in charge of New South Wales Cup side Mount Pritchard Mounties having previously coached at Cronulla and South Sydney Rabbitohs.

But he knows Sunday’s curtain-raiser at Odsal will still be a step into the unknown.

Carr said: “It’s a great place to start with a huge atmosphere. We’re looking forward to it as a club.

“Bradford will have a huge following in their first game since coming back up from League One. It’s a great place to play.

“I’ve had the chance to do a lot of homework. I know a lot of the teams and the key players.

“I’m trying to get up to speed with the ones coming through.

“We’ll have our work cut out but we’re excited about it.

“There are lot of strong teams in the Championship and there will be no 'gimmes'. Bradford in round one is the start of that.”

Carr’s arrival to replace John Duffy at Fev has been followed by an influx of overseas captures, headed by former NRL star Cameron King.

The new coach admits Rovers will be a work in progress as they build as a team.

He told the T&A: “Our target is to come together as a team over these next few weeks. Obviously, we’ve had a lot of late arrivals so we’ve got to build.

“We can’t afford to look ahead to the back end of the year yet because we’ve not even played round one. We just want to keep improving each week.

“Featherstone are a really strong club throughout history. We’ve got a lot of new recruits in Watson Boas, Ase Boas, Cameron King, Conor Carey and Thompson Teteh.

“There are a lot of new faces but that’s exciting for me because I’m new as well. We’re going to try to build our own brand and own history.

“You’ve got Widnes, Toronto, Toulouse and Bradford as well – there is nothing easy. We’ve just got to make sure we’re the best version of us that we can be.

“We’re in our own little bubble and just trying to work hard with our team.”