JOHN Kear says the break came at the perfect time as Bradford Bulls gear up for season-defining game against Toronto Wolfpack.

The Odsal outfit enjoyed a rare weekend off - with the Challenge Cup semis under way - after a 25-24 loss to York City Knights.

That result has left the Bulls' play-off aspirations teetering on the brink - sitting three points off Featherstone in fifth, with five to play.

But, ahead of an all-important match at home to league champions Toronto, the break has been welcome, says Kear.

He added: "It’s the first weekend that the players haven’t been playing a game of rugby league since the beginning of the year.

"It’s been very welcome, I think. Physically it’s been welcome, but I think more importantly psychologically it’s been very welcome as well.

"Because we’ve played 33 games, we’ve played a lot of rugby.

"It was good to put our feet up over the weekend, but obviously they’ve come back into training, they’ve come back with a spring in their step and I’ve been really pleased with them."

Toronto have proved a formidable force this season and while others may complain that a week without a game could negatively impact momentum, Kear has turned it to his side's advantage.

The Bulls head coach says the extra time has allowed him and his staff to take an intense look at Toronto's strengths and weaknesses, but admits the "proof will be in the pudding" on Sunday.

Kear said: "Our last three performances, we’ve won by two, we’ve drawn and we’ve lost by one.

"So that’s the type of thing I’m expecting, I’m expecting there’ll be no quarter asked or given.

"They’ll obviously pose plenty of threat to us, we feel we’ll do similar ourselves to them.

"They’re probably favourites, but we could certainly win this game as well – there’s no doubt about that."

Bulls made the trip over the Atlantic to face their Canadian counterparts in May and were unfortunate to lose 36-16.

Kear's men spent much of that match looking like they meant business, but ultimately Toronto have swatted aside most that has come before them.

The Bulls head coach said: "Our attitude is going to have to be first class – there’s no doubt about that – and our application is and our execution is.

"We’re going to have to have a damn near perfect performance in order to come away with anything.

"But, we are capable of coming away with everything, so it’s a matter of us making sure that we come up with that 80 minute performance."

Bulls have some hope that Brandon Pickersgill and Rhys Evans may be part of the selection discussions.

Kear added: "We always sit down as a coaching staff on a Thursday and we look at the squad we can assemble and we do all the what-if scenarios.

"We’ll be going through those tomorrow.

"But obviously, I think we’ll be picking from strength which is really good news."