Bradford Bulls' new recruit Harvey Howard was today bidding to shake-off the effects of a 20-hour-plus flight from Sydney to clinch a place in the side to face Castleford Tigers on Bank Holiday Monday.

Howard, was celebrating his 30th birthday with a morning training session alongside his new colleagues, after a hectic 12,000-mile dash from the other side of the world.

As reported in later editions of yesterday's T&A the Bulls clinched a short-term deal with Howard late on Thursday, and hours later he was boarding a plane for a two-month stint with the Super League champions, which he hopes will re-launch his international career.

After naming Howard in a provisional 18-man squad, coach Matthew Elliott said: "We are bringing in a highly motivated player who has set his sights on facing the Kiwis in November.

"He was still playing with Leeds when I first came over here and has gone on to establish a good reputation in Australia as an excellent go-forward prop.

"Another benefit is that he has only played about half the season with Wests after struggling with injury early on and feels he is just coming up to peak form and fitness.

"Our props have had their problems with Brian McDermott and Tahi Reihana battling against persistent injuries. Neil Harmon is still settling in with us and Stuart Fielden is still learning the game, so Harvey is a welcome addition which will ease the pressure on the others a little."

The deal for Howard was complex, but Elliott praised the Bulls administrators for sticking to their guns and coming up with the goods.

"There were problems, especially with some pretty unique insurance demands from Wests, but eventually we got through it," added Elliott.

The Bulls coach still has a couple of selection problems after McDermott and Bernard Dywer both suffered reactions to injuries in training yesterday.

"It was Brian's first session of the week and he pulled up again, while Bernard also had a setback, but I am still hopeful," said Elliott.

Nathan McAvoy is back at centre though after missing the last two games with ankle trouble, with Abi Ekoku the man to stand down. Matt Calland is on the bench after back trouble.

Bulls: Spruce; Vaikona, Bradley, McAvoy, Scales; Paul, Deacon; McDermott, Lowes, Reihana, Forshaw, Donougher, McNamara. Subs (from): Fielden, Howard, Harmon, Calland, Dwyer.

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