JORDAN Lilley penned a new deal with the Bulls and announced: It’s brilliant to be staying.

Lilley has ended the speculation surrounding his future by committing to the club for another two years.

It is a real statement of intent from the Bulls to pin down the half-back, who has been a pivotal figure for John Kear since his arrival at Odsal in 2018.

And the news will come as a major relief for supporters who feared the prospect of losing him to a rival.

Lilley arrived initially on an 18-month loan from Leeds Rhinos before making the move permanent until the end of this season. Now he has been tied down until at least after the 2023 campaign.

The firm fans favourite, who has linked up well this year with veteran playmaker Danny Brough, has now set his sights on exciting times ahead with the club.

Lilley said: “It is a big relief to get it over the line. It is good to put pen to paper, there were hurdles in the way but we managed to get there in the end and it is brilliant to be staying.

“I am regaining my confidence and that is one of the reasons why I signed again. I feel like this year especially I am having one of the best years of my career.

“We are building a really good team for next year, with the likes of Broughie staying and the players we have got coming in - it is exciting times for this club.”

Lilley is ambitious to play in the top flight and believes he can achieve that in Bulls colours.

“I have made no secret of the fact I want to go up with Bradford,” he added.

“I want to take them back up to Super League and get 15-20,000 people back inside Odsal – that is a dream of mine and now I have two years to build that.”

Bulls coach John Kear reckons Lilley has got better this year with Brough’s tutelage – and believes the 25-year-old can still improve with the club.

Kear said: “Jordan has been great ever since he came in and you can see him developing into a quality half-back.

“Your halves, hookers, full backs - they’re the spine. You need to trust your spine and I trust Jordan completely.

“He is tremendous and he is only going to get better, signing Jordan up for another two years is a big positive for the club and supporters.”

Lilley’s recent comeback from injury sooner than expected highlighted the attitude and drive that Kear wants to see in his big players.

He added: “One of the reasons we were so keen to keep him was that when he broke his ribs, he pretty much played straight afterwards.

“You think, ‘that is a team man’ and Jordan Lilley is a team man.

“You cannot have enough of those and I am absolutely delighted to get him over the line."

The Lilley announcement follows on from last week's contract confirmation with Thomas Doyle which keeps the impressive young hooker with the Bulls for a further year.

And Kear hinted that there are others in the pipeline as the club begin the countdown towards the Championship play-offs.

“There have been some exciting announcements already but there are some good ones coming up - people can look forward to an interesting 2022. But we have work to do in 2021 as well.”