Steve McNamara is confident he will leave the Bulls in rude health but first wants to deal with some unfinished business.

The clock is ticking on his time as Bradford boss after it was announced he will leave at the end of the season to become full-time England coach.

Until then, McNamara will combine the two roles and his immediate goal remains the same – bring success back to Odsal.

“When the time comes, I believe I’ll be leaving the organisation with a good chance to progress,” said McNamara, who has led his side to fifth place in Super League so far this year.

“But we’ve still got a long way to go this year and we want to continue the progress we have made this season.

“We’re quite happy to come in under the radar so I’m not going to talk up our chances.

“We’re going along well and we’re in reasonable form but that can change quickly if we take our eye off the ball.

“The way the England job is set up now, as a part-time role, it’s not an issue at all and won’t get in the way.”

In the long-term, McNamara hopes the changes he has made will result in a strong legacy for the club.

The 38-year-old former Great Britain international has worked particularly hard to revamp the club’s academy system and oversee the move to a state-of-the-art training base at Tong School.

And he would be happy to help the club in their search for the right man to take on the mantle.

He said: “If I get asked my opinion, I will be happy to have some input.

“(Chairman) Peter Hood has been fantastic right from the start and through this situation now, so if he wants my advice I would like to help.

“We’ve had some very difficult years financially on the back of a lot of years of success.

“It was not sustainable but Peter has done a tremendous job and we have managed to put the club back into a reasonable position. With some investment it could become very successful.”

Off and on, McNamara has spent 12 years at Bradford as player, backroom staff and as head coach.

Appointed to the top job in 2006, following the mid-season departure of Brian Noble, he admits it will be a wrench to finally leave.

“It was an extremely tough decision,” he said.

“Over a 20-year career, the Bulls have been 50 per cent of it, playing and coaching, and it’s going to be a tremendous wrench to leave.

“But I’m very proud to lead England. I suppose it’s everyone’s boyhood ambition to either play for or coach their country.”