KARL Harrison has been appointed as Jimmy Lowes’ assistant and spoken of his desire to help the Bulls make an immediate return to Super League.

The former Hull, Featherstone, Halifax and Great Britain prop filled the same role at Odsal under Brian Noble for two years before leaving to take charge of Salford in May 2002.

After the Reds were relegated at the end of that season, Harrison guided Salford back into the top flight at the first attempt and then into the play-offs after finishing fifth in 2006 – their highest-ever Super League finish.

His five-year stint at The Willows ended in May 2007 before he went on to enjoy successful spells in the Championship as head coach of Batley and Halifax.

Harrison won the Northern Rail Cup at Batley, beating Widnes in the 2010 final, before a three-year stint at The Shay.

He made Halifax one of the most competitive sides in the second tier, winning the Northern Rail Cup again in 2012, but left last month with his contract about to expire.

That opened the door for a return to the club he has supported since childhood on an initial one-year deal.

“It’s just a really good opportunity,” said the 50-year-old Harrison, who has also coached Keighley Cougars and England during his illustrious career.

“Everybody within the game expects Bradford to be in the upper echelons of the game and at the top end of the upper echelons of the game.

“It’s a great opportunity to work alongside Jimmy and try to get this great club back to where we think it belongs.

“There is a lot of hard work to be done and Jimmy has recruited a very big squad and it’s something I’m looking forward to working with.

“With a big squad, you’ve always got people chomping at your heels and we need to create that competition for places so everybody is playing to the best of their ability in the top squad.

“The challenge is to mould a team from this 30-man squad and there are a lot of new players, so there is a lot of hard work to be done between now and February.”

Harrison joins John Bastian (head of youth), Matt Diskin (Under-19s head coach) and Gary Dempsey (strength and conditioning coach) in a new-look coaching set-up at Odsal.

Harrison’s appointment at Bradford is a role reversal with Lowes, who had worked as his assistant at Salford.

Lowes said: “I have known Karl for a number of years and am absolutely delighted to have him on board ahead of what is going to be a massive year for us.

“He is very experienced – at both Super League and Championship level – and is an all-round great guy.

“When he became available, we moved very quickly to bring him in. He is the ideal man to assist me next season and I look forward to working with him.

“He has enjoyed success just about everywhere he has been and we intend to taste similar success next year.

“Karl completes something of a new-look coaching team for the club. I felt the need to freshen things up and I believe I have done so.

“Plenty of new faces have arrived, all of which boast impressive levels of experience and will add a great deal to what we are aiming to do here.”