Much of the focus will fall on Bulls centre Adrian Purtell during tomorrow’s Magic Weekend clash, and rightly so, but Craig Kopczak’s presence will certainly not go unnoticed either.

Vilified by Bradford supporters for walking out on his hometown club before the final game of last season, the homegrown prop from Eccleshill went on to sign for Huddersfield.

The manner of his departure – he neglected to inform his team-mates of his decision to terminate his contract with the Bulls – left a sour taste and he was on the receiving end from Bradford fans when Francis Cummins’ men stuffed the Giants at the John Smith’s Stadium in March.

Jamie Langley, who saw Kopczak progress through the ranks at Odsal to establish himself as a top-class prop and key figure in Wales’ national team, will shake the 26-year-old’s hand tomorrow.

“We’ve not really kept in touch too much but Koppy was a close friend of mine when he was at Bradford,” said Langley, who made his 250th appearance for the Bulls in last week’s win at Salford.

“We didn’t really know much about what was going on, we just got told after he had left.

“Unfortunately, Craig probably received some bad advice from his solicitors and whoever else.

“I think they must have told him that it’s not in his best interest to contact anyone at the club until the deal went through.

“It’s in the past now and you have to let bygones be bygones – you can’t hold a grudge.”

Langley rates a player whose defection to Huddersfield swelled the number of ex-Bradford men at the John Smith’s Stadium.

“Craig’s a quality player and has come on leaps and bounds in the last few years,” said Langley.

“He’s probably one of the outstanding front-rowers in the competition.

“He works hard at his game and he’s a good kid as well.

“I’ll wish him all the best with his career. He’s playing in a good forward pack at Huddersfield.”

With Kopczak and ex-Bradford favourite Stuart Fielden (pictured below) having moved to the Giants during the off-season, joining the likes of Eorl Crabtree, Paul Anderson has a huge pack at his disposal.

The roster of props that Anderson has assembled has drawn comparisons with the legendary ‘awesome foursome’ that the Huddersfield coach was a part of to such devastating effect for the Bulls.

Langley said: “The game’s moved on but that pack was just unbelievable and I’m glad I didn’t have to come up against them.

“Teams now exploit bigger and heavier players but ten years ago it was great to play behind lads like that.

“We’re all athletes these days and it’s just about who goes into the game with the best and the most aggressive mindset.

“Huddersfield are probably the most similar team to what we had at Bradford with the big front-rowers.

“But there aren’t teams who’ve got the better of us in the forwards this year. I think we’ve held our own really well and hopefully that will continue.”

In early March, Jarrod Sammut scored a hat-trick as Bradford inflicted a first defeat of the season on Huddersfield, thrashing them 43-18.

Langley added: “We executed our gameplan really well that day and caught them cold.

“They’ll be expecting that this time and it’s going to be a lot tougher.

“They are one of the form sides in the competition. By no means are we going to take them lightly, just because we’ve had a good performance against them earlier in the season.

“It’s going to be a good challenge for us but we’re looking forward to it.”