NEW West Bowling Head Coach Dean Muir is eyeing up a potential Challenge Cup showdown with Betfred Championship side Bradford Bulls.

Muir was appointed as first team boss in December from Keighley Cougars, whom he was assistant to Rhys Lovegrove at; and this came after Ryan Hunkin’s decision to leave for the Head of Youth role at the Bulls.

Pre-season is well underway at West Bowling ahead of the National Conference League’s restart on Saturday March 4, however the club’s sights are firmly on this Saturday’s opening round Challenge Cup tie at home to Waterhead. A trip to Castleford’s Lock Lane awaits the winners, and although the West Bowling boss is under no illusion about the difficulties of the opening two rounds, it’s a dream cup tie in round three that has Muir purring.

He said: “It would mean the world for me to see my side go on a strong run in the Challenge Cup, and I do believe we’ve got a strong base to do that. Obviously, you need to work extremely hard to establish yourselves in each game and earn the right to do that. Firstly, it would be nice to play well, and that starts this weekend against Waterhead.

“Whoever wins at the weekend has got a very tough trip to Lock Lane in Castleford and that is never an easy place to go to. You can never look past any opponent and I would be silly to do that, but it would be a dream to land one of the big Championship sides in round three. Featherstone at home or away would be a great tie because they always bring a good following, as do Widnes. Obviously, for us at West Bowling it would be a dream to have Bradford Bulls at home because it would be a massive local derby, and it would be a great spectacle. However, you’ve got to earnt that right, so we must make sure that we get the preparation right, and then it’s about the lads delivering on Saturday.”

Muir believes it will be no easy task facing off with Waterhead this weekend, stating: “They’re a very strong side.”

He added: “We are lucky that they have a YouTube channel and they post their games on there because it has allowed us to watch some of their matches in detail over pre-season. It’s certainly helped us to get a get greater understanding on how they play as a team. They’ve got strong backs and they’re very direct in the middle of the pitch.

“However, we feel we have prepared well and we are beginning to gel as a group now after a tough and long pre-season. I feel my ideas are slightly different to the old regime, but I also believe the players are responding well to my ideas and like the idea of freshening things up.

“It’s going to be a challenging start for us, that’s for sure, but we are ready and excited to get the competitive season underway.”

West Bowling's league campaign gets underway on Saturday March 4 at home to Crosfields.