BULLS head coach John Kear says trialist Ryan Forshaw had already thrown down the gauntlet to Dec Patton and Jordan Lilley even before the latter picked up the knee injury that is set to rule him out for the next few weeks.

Kear spoke earlier in the week about how impressed he was impressed with Billy Jowitt's performance in the halves in Lilley's absence in last Sunday's friendly with Batley, but former Wigan youngster Forshaw wants a starting spot in there of his own.

Kear said: "We had a meeting when we started pre-season, setting out goals, and Ryan said he didn't come here to make up the numbers, he wants to play.

"He'd already thrown that gauntlet down, and he might now have had a bit of fortune with Jordan's injury.

"He feels he's good enough to start, and that self-belief is what you need to be an elite sportsperson, so it's good to see from him."

Forshaw is just starting his career in the halves, but tomorrow's friendly at Odsal against Hull sees Bulls celebrating an all-time great in that position.

The game is Danny Brough's testimonial, and comes less than three months after the Bradford player announced his retirement from the sport.

Kear, who coached him at Hull, Wakefield and in his final season at Bulls, said: "I have a lot of respect for him. He was a great character within the game.

"He had big success in the sport and he was great for us, it was just unfortunate he had to bring the curtain down on his career early due to injury.

"I wish him all the best and I hope whatever he does in future is as successful as his rugby league career was."

While Kear was generally positive about Bradford's performance in the narrow defeat to Batley last weekend, he said his side's kick defence and their own kick-and-chase game were not up to scratch.

And it is that kind of thing that Bulls will be focusing on against Hull, instead of the opposition themselves.

Kear said: "Pre-season is not outcome-based for us, it's process-based.

"We want to win against Hull, but if they're better than us or further down the track with their preparations, you just have to take your hat off to them.

"It's all about ourselves in these trial games, we've not looked at the opposition, as we're just wanting to see how things like our performance indicators are looking."

But while Kear is laser-focused on Bradford during pre-season, the big news this week that France have been named as hosts of the 2025 Rugby League World Cup has not escaped him.

It will be rugby league's first World Cup in the country for over 50 years, and current Wales supremo Kear said: "They tend to try and hold one in the Northern Hemisphere, and the next in the Southern Hemisphere.

"But that tends to only be England and Australia or New Zealand based, so it's nice to have somewhere different.

"I believe it will help the game in France make further strides, which they've already had with the success of Catalans and Toulouse over the last few years.

"Them hosting that World Cup will benefit the game as a whole from 2025."