KIERAN Gill has confessed it is nice to be able to share the burden this season, as the Bulls centre insists it was no big deal to get back on the scoresheet at Featherstone on Monday night.

Gill grabbed the second of Bradford's three tries in the hard-fought 26-12 defeat at the Betfred Championship title favourites, the first time he had crossed the whitewash since his double on the opening day against Whitehaven.

Bulls were heavily reliant on Gill last season, as he racked up an impressive 18 tries in all competitions, with no-one else even in double figures.

But George Flanagan, Tom Holmes and Joe Arundel have also gone over to score in two of Bulls' five games this season, with the latter the other starting centre.

Gill said: "It was a big struggle with injuries at centre last season, as Rhys Evans was out for an extended period.

"But this year Joe has really come in and made a difference. He's been about in the game for a while and you can see the understanding he has of rugby league.

"He's been at top teams in Super League, but has now taken a step back into the Championship, where he can do his trade as well as play rugby.

"It's nice we can now work with the guy at centre on the other side, and not just worry about getting the ball to me."

It all means Gill had no issue with going three games without a try before Monday, saying: "It's something I try not to think about, my numbers, even though it makes my mum and dad happy when I score.

"I just want to play every game to the best of my ability, and as long we win, that's always the main thing for me.

"Our squad depth is excellent this year, and there's not one standout strength, because both attack and defence are working together nicely."

Gill felt that was the case the other night, especially given Mark Dunning's side lost that same fixture 58-12 in 2022.

He said: "We're definitely pleased with how we played, and it was a complete turnaround from our last game there.

"We went into the match with a positive attitude after the way we'd competed in the win over Toulouse, and we felt we were in with a chance of winning for most of the game.

"We started in the right way, tried to play on the front foot, stuck to a simple game plan and kept in the grind.

"We've still got a lot more to give this season from one to 17 and we're still learning, but it feels like we're going in the right direction."

Bulls should continue that positive upward trend this Sunday in the Challenge Cup third round at home to amateur side York Acorn.

And Gill is not thinking about a week off, saying: "Mark spoke to me at training on Tuesday night and asked how I was feeling.

"I told him I'm fit and raring to go and want to play in every game.

"I had too many injuries and missed too many matches when I was younger, so I want to play whenever I can now I'm fit and available."

Gill refuses to write off National Conference League Premier Division side Acorn this weekend though, saying: “We can’t look past them because they’re an amateur team.

“They’re a classy side in the NCL, and players have come through their system and gone on to bigger things.

“Sunday is a great opportunity for them to show the amateur game off, and we can demonstrate what a Championship side is all about.”