INJURIES, suspensions and Covid-related issues have allowed some of Bulls' young guns to thrive in 2021, and skipper Steve Crossley could not be more proud of them for taking their chances.

Teenager Joe Burton was ecstatic to grab his first senior try last weekend, having made his bow for John Kear's side far earlier than he might have expected.

And his captain said: "It's been happening all season, with things like injuries and suspensions creating chances for young blood to come through.

"That's happened all through my career. I got my chance a decade or so ago at Bulls when Andy Lynch was called up by England.

"It's those kind of things that help youngsters come through, and Joe's come in and now scored his first try against Batley.

"If you've seen him in training, he's earned that chance and we're all excited to see how he grows."

A couple of other young talents who are a bit further on in their development are Tom Doyle and Ebon Scurr, with Crossley working closely with both in the front row.

Their proud skipper said: "I love both Tom and Ebon. They more or less broke through last year, and they've nailed down their spots now. We'll see plenty more from them this year.

"Tom has become a good little general in the middle, even though he's so young.

"Ebon's not fancy, you won't see him sidestepping opponents, but he's got that tunnel vision, which means he just drives forward and gets us good yards."

A more experienced first team member is half-back Joe Keyes, who has returned on loan from Hull KR after four seasons with Bulls between 2016 and 2019.

Asked how it was to have him back, Crossley said: "Joe's been outstanding, in training and in the last game against Batley. It's as if he's never been away.

"He's not been gone too long, and a lot of his old team-mates are still here, so he's just been able to slot straight back in.

"With Broughy and Jordan out for a while, it's been really good to have him."

As the only senior half-back in the squad, Keyes will have a huge role to play at Oldham this weekend.

Asked if it was a relief to be playing a relegation-haunted side, after the most recent games against play-off hopefuls Widnes and Batley were preceded by a clash at title favourites Featherstone, Crossley insisted: "Oldham is equally as important to us as Batley.

"They're towards the bottom of the table, but with Matt Diskin getting sacked and Brian McDermott coming in, the Oldham lads will be playing for their places, so they could be equally as dangerous as Batley."

Kick-off is just five hours before England play in the Euro 2020 final, but Crossley insisted: "There's massive excitement for the England game at the club and in the whole country.

"But there's plenty of time to get home and watch it.

"We've just got to do what we're paid to do and focus on beating Oldham and then look forward to what should be a great event."