BRIAN Noble is cautiously optimistic that London Broncos are finally heading in the right direction as they gear up for Sunday's visit of the Bulls.

The legendary former Bradford boss, who remains the most successful coach in Super League history after guiding his home-town club to five successive Grand Finals, joined London as a mentor to Andrew Henderson last month.

His part-time role sees him advise rookie head coach Henderson, who came out of retirement to play a starring role for the Broncos in their stunning 46-6 win over Sheffield at the Summer Bash.

The victory encouraged hopes that seventh-placed London, despite an inconsistent campaign, can achieve a top-four Championship finish at the end of the regular 23 weekly rounds.

Noble said: "I think Hendo was quietly confident before the Sheffield game and he had made the decision to have a run-out himself, which gave us an element of control that we've been lacking.

"I thought we started the game really well, which we probably haven't been doing on previous occasions, and we stayed strong throughout.

"There had been a real purpose to our practice during the past two weeks and Hendo has done a great job. I'm delighted for him because he has worked really hard to turn around what has been a stop-start season."

London reduced Sheffield to rubble during the opening quarter of the match as former Bulls star Elliot Kear scored twice from full back.

With a number of home-grown youngsters performing well and seasoned professionals such as Jamie Thackray and Rhys Lovegrove punching their weight up front, the Broncos had few problems in coasting past Sheffield.

Noble said: "Lovegrove was outstanding early on and I thought Thackray made some really challenging runs in defence.

"The half-backs, Tom Gilmore and Oscar Thomas, were very good. Gilmore has been good all year and Thomas (who scored a hat-trick against Sheffield) could be anything he wants to be.

"That's his decision; he needs to make it and I think he can.

"To put a scoreline like that on a team as proficient as Sheffield is very pleasing – but at the end of the day, we've got to do it more than once.

"Hopefully last weekend was the springboard. The players have had a lot of adversity this year in losing their coach (Joey Grima) and four or five front-line players through long-term injuries.

"Last week was a blueprint – but I'm sure we've had blueprints before."

Noble rates Henderson highly and is enjoying his role at The Hive.

"I've always been a fan of London rugby league and helping Hendo is the pleasing thing for me," said Noble.

"If he let me get out on that coaching field, I would swamp him, so I just tip him up and we saw the results of his hard work last weekend."

* Former Bradford Northern half-back Dean Carroll has passed away aged just 53.

Carroll, who hailed from Batley, was a popular player for Northern during the early 1980s but left following the arrival of Terry Holmes and went on to enjoy spells at Carlisle, Warrington and Doncaster.