Former Bulls coach Brian Smith plans to join fans on the Odsal terraces for the crunch fixture with Leeds.

The Aussie is back in Bradford ten years after leaving for Parramatta, having agreed to give current boss Steve McNamara some support while on holiday in Europe.

He admitted: "It's great to be back here. I feel really comfortable with the situation, probably because it's been a fair time from when I was here before and there's a lot of new faces around.

"But it's more important for Steve as he's a young coach who's taken over a club mid-season and some of the roles around him have not been filled yet.

"I can help him out in some of those areas, meaning he can focus on the first team."

The champions entertain Leeds managed by Brian's younger brother Tony on Friday.

He can't wait to taste the Odsal matchday experience once more, a decade on after playing a pivotal role in the emergence of the Bulls during Super League's first season.

"What I'm really looking forward to is lapping up the atmosphere as that was certainly one of the highlights for me when I was here the battles between Bradford and Leeds, particularly at Odsal," he said.

"I loved them and I might just stand on the terraces with the fans on Friday just to feel what it's really like to be one of those supporters."

Despite some reports otherwise, Smith is purely lending a hand at the champions and said: "I've just been observing things and won't have anything to do with the Rhinos game unless Steve asks me.

"I'm just looking to help the other coaches and the lower grades so he doesn't have to worry about them."

Smith had dinner with his brother and his family last night, staying at Tony's home, but was back in a hotel today so there's no chance of any big match secrets finding their way to Odsal.

Meanwhile, McNamara has named the same 20-man squad as last week so there is no place for Chris McKenna who had hoped to have recovered from a broken jaw in time for the visit of his former club.