IT may not have been the 'world record' Bulls were aiming for, but their attendance figure on Sunday was nothing to be sniffed at.

They had been aiming for a Championship opening day record of 8,817, which was set by Hull KR when they hosted Bulls in 2017.

Though they fell well short of that figure at the weekend against Whitehaven, there were still 4,870 people in attendance.

Not only did that comfortably beat the 2,670 supporters who were at the same fixture last year, on a blazing hot August afternoon, but it turned out to be the highest attendance in the second tier.

The figure was pretty much double that of any other Championship fixture in the opening game week, with Keighley's game against Featherstone on Monday night in second place with 2,443 fans in attendance.

An average of 2,348 fans attended the seven Championship fixtures, a healthy increase on the opening day of the 2022 season.