RHYS Lovegrove helped to make Hull KR an established force in Super League during his eight seasons at Craven Park.

Now he wants to play his part in taking the Bulls back to the promised land.

The Australian forward recently joined Jimmy Lowes’ squad on a month-long trial and is expected to secure a permanent deal shortly.

He has impressed off the bench in recent victories against Whitehaven and Swinton and will make his home debut in Sunday’s crunch visit of Leigh.

Lovegrove spent last year at London Broncos but a desire to return north prompted his recent release (he was under contract for the rest of this season) and led to him rocking up at Odsal.

“I’m very happy here, the transition has been pretty seamless, and I have to thank the boys for that,” said the Sydney-born 28-year-old, who is now back living in Hull.

“Bradford have a style of play which has been easy to slot in and hit the ground running with two good wins.

“I knew a few of the guys here already, which has certainly helped when you walk in on your first day.

“I have played against the likes of Adam Sidlow and Paul Clough for years too, so that also helps.

“I know they are in the Championship but Bradford have a big following with great backroom staff and they’re obviously a big club.

“It would be great to stay there but all I can do is get the little things right, take it week by week, and hopefully cement myself a position.

“When will they make a decision on me? I’m honestly not too sure.

“One thing I’ve learned during my career is to not focus on the off-field stuff too much.

“If you perform on the field, everything else tends to take care of itself.

“It’s a real confidence boost that I have been able to come in here and Jimmy has shown faith in me in the last two games.”

Lovegrove enjoyed his time at London, initially at least, before he asked to leave for family reasons.

The former St George Illawarra player, who made 159 appearances for Hull KR, explained: “I had one season down there and the transition was really good.

“But a few things became difficult for me and my family, especially living in London.

“I’ve got a young family and the simple things that were meant to be easy were becoming really difficult.

“That extra load meant I couldn’t concentrate on rugby.

“Andrew Henderson is trying to implement a certain culture down at London but I couldn’t sit there as a senior player and say that I could buy into it fully.

“Therefore I said to him ‘it’s time I look elsewhere for my own and the club’s interests’.”

Lovegrove had been released from Hull KR at the end of the 2014 season and enjoyed his time in East Hull.

He made his Rovers debut in the 30-20 derby defeat at Craven Park in July 2007 – the Robins’ first season in Super League.

Lovegrove reflected: “I played eight years there, so I was really happy with that, under Justin Morgan and Craig Sandercock before Chezzy (Chris Chester) took over towards the end.

“He was looking to establish his culture and I had been there a while, so I was looking for something a bit different as well.

“I wasn’t quite sure how I would fit in so I wanted to get out and experience something different, which going to London was.

“As much as it was a short transition down there, it was a positive one so I’m a better rugby player for it.

“I’m happy to be back up north as I have a lot of family up here.

“My mum is English and lives up in Pateley Bridge, as is my fiancée – her dad lives in Doncaster and her grandparents live in Barnsley.

“We are living in Hull at the moment and have two boys, Corey is six and Hunter is two.

“Corey is in Year One at school and that weighs on my mind a lot, so we didn’t want to disrupt him too much.”

Last season, London ended Leigh's club record run of 27 consecutive wins with a 29-20 triumph at The Hive.

Lovegrove played his part that day and Oscar Thomas was among the tryscorers for the Broncos.

“Leigh had travelled a long way and I think we caught them by surprise,” remembered Lovegrove.

“We knew they had some phenomenal players and can attack from anywhere on the field.

“But we had a gameplan and decided that we would do the exact opposite of what Leigh do.

“Leigh tend to be really attacking and exciting and we thought we would just be boring – kick long and chase.

“We were enthusiastic and put pressure on their playmakers and were lucky that we managed to force a few errors from them.

“The few sets that they did complete, they scored from.

“We knew that was going to be the case so we just tried to put on as much pressure as possible.

“It’s a little bit different this weekend and it’s only round four, but we both go into the games on the back of a couple of good wins.

“It will definitely be a good yardstick of where we are.”