Bulls boss Brian Noble has hailed the return to form of skipper Robbie Paul ahead of Sunday's clash with Huddersfield Giants.

Paul was impressive last week against Salford after switching from scrum half to hooker early on after Aaron Smith suffered a head injury.

"That is the best he's looked since he came back from Test duty with his ankle injury," said Noble.

"He hasn't been the Robbie Paul that we recognise but I know that he has played busted for us for a few weeks. But his ankle is now practically fixed and he is in shape. I think we saw that in how sharp his running game looked against Salford.

"But he can get better, he knows he can get better and we need him to get better."

With Smith's head injury still causing concern in the Bulls camp, Paul is likely to be retained at hooker on Sunday. Noble feels his skipper is slowly getting to grips with the new position.

"He needs to lift his head a lot more than he is doing. Playing in there you have a lot of backsides to look through so you have to be open with your vision because it is a pivotal position," he said.

Meanwhile, St Helens stars Sean Long and Martin Gleeson have been left "stressed and traumatised" ahead of tonight's RFL advisory panel hearing into allegations they broke League rules by betting on their team to lose a Super League match at Bradford on Easter Monday.

"What they have been through has been hugely traumatic, not only for themselves but for their families and it's fairly traumatic for the club because the club are an innocent victim," said Saints coach Ian Millward.