Bradford Bulls coach Brian Noble paid tribute to the character of his side after their victory over Castleford Tigers on Saturday.

"We virtually had six internationals out in Daniel Gartner, Shane Rigon, Nathan McAvoy, Stuart Spruce, Scott Naylor and Paul Deacon," he said. "And it was a Herculean effort - I don't care what anybody else says."

The former Great Britain player added: "If you want to pick the bones out of the rugby league side of the match you can do, but I'm telling you the last 20 minutes were down to pride and character on my team's part. There were people out there running on ether with bruises on bruises."

Bulls led 22-8 after 51 minutes, but ended up hanging on for victory at 24-22, aided by two correct decisions by the video referee which denied the Tigers tries in the last ten minutes.

Noble continued: "I thought we were the better side by a long way for 60 minutes, but you don't need to be a rocket scientist to look at the last 20 minutes with the schedule we have been through that the guys were going to tire.

"We ran out of petrol and Cas played the way you should against a side that has run out of petrol. They threw the ball around and made it a very nervous occasion.

"But we may be dishevelled and we may be broken in certain parts, but our hearts are in good trim.

"We set ourselves a four-point target from Warrington and Castleford and we have achieved it. It was a great effort considering it was our third game in eight days."