Bradford Bulls travelling army are being advised to hit the road early to avoid being locked out of tomorrow night's top five showdown with Castleford at The Jungle.

The Tigers attracted the biggest Super League crowd in their history when 11,702 - 48 short of capacity - packed in for the midweek derby with Leeds Rhinos a fortnight ago but that could well be topped for the visit of the best supported club in the league.

Tigers marketing manager, Mike McDonald has master-minded the huge growth of interest in the club and arranged through the club's sponsors for almost 5,000 fans to travel to last Sunday's clash at London Broncos.

"We are expecting another very big crowd and as the match is being televised, we must start on time at 7.30pm," he explained. "With that in mind we will open the gates at 4.30pm. in readiness for an Academy curtain-raiser between the two clubs.

"There will be our usual big-match build up and we believe that all the fans will love the atmosphere at the Jungle. There is plenty to see and do, whilst we are naturally hoping for a great game."

Access to the ground is very slow so the Tigers are urging fans to park in the town centre and walk the remainder of the way.

Meanwhile Keighley Cougars appear to have failed in a move for former Bradford Bulls prop Neil Harmon.

Cougars coach Karl Harrison contacted the much travelled forward soon after his release by the Odsal club last month.

But Harrison admitted today: "Neil has not come back to me so I can only presume he is not interested.

"I am sure his experience could have been invaluable but his financial demands were a little bit excessive for us."

Injuries to skipper Alan Boothroyd and Phil Stephenson's four-match suspension have left the Cougars a little short of front-row cover but Harrison says the situation has eased somewhat.

"Alan is now back and Phil is available again this weekend so things have improved considerably."

The Bulls Alliance side are in action against Castleford at Odsal tonight (7.30pm) when Paul Sykes, Alex Wilkinson and Robert Parker could all be in action after being on first team duty last weekend.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.