Revitalised Paul Deacon inspired the Bulls to a classic play-off victory and then revealed a "kick up the backside" as the secret behind his recent success.

The livewire scrum half delivered an all-consuming display to help inflict a 52-6 hammering of sorry Salford on Saturday night.

Kiwi Shontayne Hape bagged four touchdowns in the nine-try romp as the classy champions proved they are in no mood to let go of their Engage Super League crown.

But it was Deacon's magic that proved the catalyst and set up another Grattan Stadium eliminator against surprise Leeds conquerors Warrington on Saturday (6pm).

The club's vice-captain and record points-scorer has come in for some heavy criticism during the Bulls' inconsistent campaign.

But he impressed against Huddersfield and ran the Salford show to get the team rolling towards Old Trafford once more, citing a frank chat with boss Steve McNamara as a decisive turning point.

"Steve had a word with me around three weeks ago about how I was playing and basically gave me a kick up the backside," admitted Deacon.

"He didn't do it aggressively but just pointed out some things that I wasn't doing.

"When you've been playing for a while you sort of think you know everything, but you don't.

"Steve just reminded me what I'm good at and told me to get doing it again. It was simple really but sometimes you just need that and he pointed me in the right direction.

"Over these last couple of weeks, things have really picked up for me and the team. I'm not the biggest, fastest or strongest but I am a team player and I've always said when the side is playing well, I play well too."

Bulls had been written off after finishing fourth but the play-off specialists produced their best performance since February's World Club Challenge triumph to raise hopes they can reach a remarkable sixth successive Grand Final.

Now knockout football is underway, they are red hot again and Deacon - who doesn't expect to be named in Brian Noble's Great Britain squad today - admitted: "The mood changed last week. Once you've played in Grand Finals and play-offs you know what it means to get there and you want to do it every year.

"When we play well, we really do play well but that's just the first hurdle. Now we have to do the same against Warrington on Saturday."