Elliott Whitehead was today celebrating a new long-term contract at the Bulls as he declared: “I wouldn’t want to play anywhere else.”

Bradford-born Whitehead, 22, has put pen to paper on a five-year deal to bring a successful conclusion to several weeks of negotiations between the player and his hometown club.

He was contracted until the end of next season but this new improved deal, which overwrites his previous contract, will keep him at Odsal until at least 2016.

The highly-rated back-rower, who has shown signs of his best form since returning from a lengthy ban earlier in the season, has spoken of his delight and believes the Bulls can look forward to a bright future.

Over half of Bradford’s squad – and indeed coach Mick Potter – are out of contract at the end of the season but Whitehead is confident more players will sign up in the coming weeks.

Whitehead told the Telegraph & Argus: “The club have talked about building for the future and me signing on for another few years is part of that.

“I love being at Bradford – everyone at the club is awesome with me.

“I feel that we’ve improved a lot this year and are doing much better than we did last season.

“There are a lot of very good young players here like Danny Addy, Tom Burgess and John Bateman.

“They’ve shown what they’re capable of doing and hopefully more of the squad can sign up for the long-term.

“John Bateman is one of the best players around and we need to get him signed on as quickly as possibly.

“He’s a big mate of mine and I want to play with him for the next few years.”

Whitehead was recently linked with a move to Hull FC but he insists the story was utter nonsense.

“I never heard anything from anyone about Hull,” he said.

“I think it was just a rumour that someone made up.

“But like I say, I’m more than happy to stay at Bradford because I believe we’re moving forward as a club.

“It’s great to have my future secured and now I can just concentrate on my rugby.”

Whitehead, meanwhile, was delighted to be called into the England Knights squad earlier this month after his ban denied him the chance to play for them at the end of last season.

He added: “It was good to get noticed again and it would be great to play for the Knights at the end of the year. But Bradford is my priority right now and Sunday against Salford is another big game.

“Salford have shown what they’re capable of doing but we’ll be looking for the two points.

“I feel like we’ve got our confidence back and aren’t scared of doing something we may have been reluctant to do before perhaps. It’s showing on the pitch and we’re already looking forward to Sunday’s game. Bring it on.”