LEEDS trio Jarrod O’Connor, Muizz Mustapha and Corey Johnson will all be joining the Bulls on loan for the new Championship season.

The treble boost to John Kear’s squad has been announced as part of a new partnership deal between the two clubs.

O’Connor and Mustapha both featured in the 2021 play-off semi-finals – for the Rhinos and Hull KR respectively – and Johnson had a spell with York.

The Bulls will also face Leeds at Odsal on Sunday, January 23 in their final friendly before the big kick-off.

The link-up between the two clubs aims to promote rugby league as well as netball to youngsters in the region, together with a number of diversity, equality and sustainability programmes.

The three-year project, driven by Bulls chairman Nigel Wood and his opposite number Gary Hetherington, aims to build on the work done since 2015 through the Sky Try project.

That was launched to increase the number of people regularly involved in community clubs.

The charitable foundations from both clubs will provide opportunities for women and girls for rugby league and netball taster sessions. Headingley and Odsal will host festivals during the summer.

Wood said “The Bulls aspire to become a Super League force again, but as importantly, we are determined to be a club that represents the best in community and corporate social responsibility.

“It is at the heart of everything we are trying to achieve.

“Leeds and Bradford may be great rivals on the field, but off it we believe in similar values; those of pulling together, co-operating and working collaboratively to promote rugby league and our cities.

“The combined area of Leeds and Bradford totals nearly 1.5 million people and it make great sense to work closely together to cover the region more efficiently and use the power of sport to promote good citizenship.”

Rhinos chief executive Hetherington said: “Fans of both clubs will remember fondly the rivalry we had a number of years ago when we were selling out Headingley and Odsal on a regular basis for our clashes.

“More recently, a spirit of camaraderie was even more evident when Bulls fans joined our own Rhinos fans to support Rob Burrow back at the start of the 2020 season.

“The aim of our new community engagement project is to combine our efforts and expertise to introduce boys, girls, men and women to rugby league many of whom have not seen a path to the game in the past.”