THE Bulls have been pushed to the limit by a punishing pre-season programme.

Coach John Kear has been encouraged by the efforts of his squad as they head into the first friendly on Boxing Day at Castleford.

He insisted the training regime has been deliberately tough this year – and is delighted to see the players stick at it through weeks of gruelling work at Tong.

With Thursday’s trip to the Jungle looming, Kear admitted the main focus of the group has been on simply getting through each daily session.

He said: “They are so tired and just happy to get the training session done.

“They are working really hard and I’m sure they are getting excited and ready to play.

“But at the minute they are just working to get through each day. It’s been a very, very tough pre-season.

“We set a little target for us that can’t be achieved unless we are very, very fit.

“It has been a deliberate ploy by the management and the players understand why. They are buying into it and working so hard.

“We’re looking okay but we’ll soon find out when we go to Castleford. We're looking forward to it and we have set them objectives."