SAM Hallas has pledged to stay another year at the Bulls insisting the band of brothers can keep marching forward.

The vice-captain has agreed a new deal for 2021 and others in John Kear’s squad are expected to follow.

The Bulls will discover in the next couple of weeks if the current season will be clear to resume later in the year.

But Hallas is happy to commit his immediate future to the club whatever happens as he sees the continued progression of a settled side under Kear.

He said: “It’s been a strange one because of the coronavirus. The sport has been up in the air, let alone people’s contracts.

“I wanted to stay and wouldn’t have gone to any other Championship club. It was a no-brainer in that regard.

“There was some noise about Super League interest but not enough to lure me away from Bradford, where I think we’ve got a chance of promotion.”

Kear recently sorted his own contract for the next years and Hallas believes the familiarity between the squad that came up from League One in 2018 and the coaching staff is key to their ambitions to return to Super League.

“We know what we expect of John and what we expect of ourselves,” he added.

“It’s good to see the same faces when you go into Tong and everything is very familiar. There’s a lot of stability.

“Each matchday feels exactly the same and I think that’s massive. Everyone feels comfortable in the environment and you can focus on the game.

“We’ve got a young spine if you look at me, Pick (Brandon Pickersgill), Jordan (Lilley) and Doyley (Thomas Doyle). Throw in Ross Oakes and Kirky (Liam Kirk) as well.

“We’re all similar age and been there since League One all the way through.

“We’ve also got the experience of Steve Crossley and George Flanagan

“We’re a real tight-knit group and that can only stand us in good stead.

“We sing off the same hymn sheet and you can see what we are capable of.

“The Wakey (Wakefield) game showed that when we took a Super League team to the wire and should have beaten them. They played a strong side and we more than held our own.

“The longer we keep this team together and play together, we’ll always be there or thereabouts.”

The Bulls have not played since being edged out of the Challenge Cup at Wakefield on March 13.

They had previously won two of their four Championship games, beating Oldham and Sheffield after close losses to London and Featherstone.

Hallas said: “I thought we were the better team against London and Featherstone and unlucky not to win those. It was the same in the Challenge Cup.

“We’ve been there or thereabouts against the bigger teams and hopefully next year, or later this year, we can turn those ‘nearly’ performances into two points and be a regular in that top bracket.”

Hallas remains optimistic that there will be some competitive rugby in 2020 as RFL chiefs look to continue from where they stopped with a 13-game season. "Hopefully there's promotion as well so that everyone has something to strive for."