Old colleagues James Lowes and Harvey Howard set a rousing lead as Bradford Bulls stop-start season got another nudge in the right direction.

It was Lowes who first alerted the club to Howard's availability on a short term deal and their understanding verged on the telepathic at times as they played leading roles in the side's most fluent attacking show for weeks.

Lowes edged the man of the match verdict with a bristling two-try display which brought back memories of the form which made him Super League's most outstanding individual last term.

But just as rewarding for coach Matthew Elliott must have been signs that the calculated gamble of bringing Howard from Australia on a short term contract could be his best bit of business this season.

Starting his first game after two games on the bench he gave the side a new dimension with his ability to punch holes in the Wolves' defence, spin and deliver a timely pass.

Since the devastating pre-season loss of Paul Anderson the Bulls have been crying out for a prop to carry the physical fight to the opposition and Howard, with eyes on a Great Britain spot against the Kiwis, could be a real trump card come play-off time.

Lowes certainly looked pleased to have his old Leeds team mate around again.

He followed his every move like a hawk and it paid rich dividends throughout, none more so than when he took the powerful prop's pass to brush off a trio of tacklers for the try which gave the Bulls an 18-0 advantage in the opening quarter.

Lowes added his second with a blindside dart before the break and the pair combined in great style again as the Bulls shook off an error ridden second-half spell to set-up the first of two tries in the last five minutes.

Howard again slipped the ball superbly when seemingly well covered and Lowes was at his shoulder to draw the cover and send the speeding Robbie Paul 35 metres for the winning try.

It was the perfect response from Paul whose slump in form had seen Elliott demote him to the bench for the first time in 12 months.

In his half-hour stint he looked like a man with a point to prove and the hope most be that he can build on this encouraging show to boost the Bulls' in the do or die struggles to come.

In his place skipper Graeme Bradley relished the extra involvement in centre field and was rewarded with the final try off Paul's pass in an action replay of his effort at the Stoop last week.

Bradley had set them on the right road early on with a strong charge and a neat pass which saw Stuart Spruce finish with a confident burst past Lee Penny.

There were also some rousing cheers reserved for the often maligned Abi Ekoku who used his size to good effect in both attack and defence and was rewarded with his first try of the season after more neat build-up work involving that deadly duo Lowes and Howard.

The ease with which the opposition broke through the first line of defence will concern Elliott but the way they got back to retrieve the situation, except when winger Jason Roach raced clear, was a heartening sign that everyone was pulling in the right direction and that hasn't always been the case this term.

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