BRADFORD Bulls head coach John Kear is happy with the hybrid approach the club is taking, and says that Bulls made the right decision to mix, full-time and part-time players together in one squad.
Kear told the Telegraph and Argus: “I believe we will be fitter than any other part-time team with our part-time players. Our full-time players will obviously be fitter, so straight away that gives us an advantage going into a long, tough season.
“The club was quite right to adopt this project, if you had gone full-time, you would have missed out on some really high quality part-time players who we feel will help us achieve our quest for promotion.
“Like Matty Garside and Elliot Minchella, they would have been lost to us, it’s a sensible thing to do with regard to the quality of player you can attract.
“Matty Garside has got a good job, when you’re knocking out £30,000 a year with that and have another £12-14,000 playing rugby, to make it worthwhile to go full-time you’re looking at a £45,000-50,000 contract. We can’t do that with the position the club is in, so we have to work within our means.
“I don’t think there are many clubs that have done this and it was one of the challenges that appealed to me.
“I’ve been full-time for a vast number of years, I went part-time at Batley and then returned to full-time with Wakefield, all I’ve tended to do is attempt to combine the best of both worlds.
“Obviously the full-timers can get in a bit of extra work in terms of analysis and conditioning and skill development. I’ve tried to emphasise the fact that it is a team, we make sure we have enough team sessions to grow as a unit together.”
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