Relieved Chris McKenna says "my best is yet to come" now his harrowing court ordeal is finally over.

The mild-mannered Bulls star was charged with affray after an incident outside a Leeds nightclub last August and faced a potential jail sentence if found guilty.

But a jury at Leeds Crown Court took just 15 minutes to deliver a unanimous not guilty verdict on Friday and McKenna is striving to put the torment behind him.

"It is a huge weight off my shoulders now the case is over," he said.

"It's dragged on for nine months and I was getting more nervous the closer the trial got.

"It's been in the back of my head there all this time but now I can concentrate on playing some good rugby.

"It might have affected my form a little. I think I've done all right recently but I'm glad it's all over and the best is definitely yet to come.

"There's more in me and I want to show that now."

The court had been told that the player punched and knocked unconscious another man, Michael Hassan, outside the Revolution nightclub after Hassan had earlier punched him.

McKenna, who had been out with his wife and some other couples, acted in self-defence and received dental injuries which resulted in thousands of pounds of damage.

Bulls boss Steve McNamara and McKenna's former manager at Leeds Rhinos - Tony Smith - both spoke in favour of the player in court, praising his discipline and good nature.

The church-going 32-year-old spent a tense one-and-a-half days in front of the judge but walked free and was able to feature for the Bulls in their win over Harlequins on Sunday.

"I'd not trained since Monday and was in court Thursday and Friday but the game went well," added the tough second-rower.

McKenna, who has shelved plans to retire at the end of the season and hopes to win a new contract at Grattan Stadium, helped Bradford build up a 44-18 victory, avoiding a third successive Super League defeat.

"It was important we did that," he said.

"Handling conditions were difficult but we reacted well to get that many points.

"We were disappointed to let Quins in after we'd nilled them at half-time. We wanted to keep them down to no tries at all.

"But there's always this week in Perpignan against Catalan Dragons, we're in the top three and that's where we've got to stay.

"That's the goal now and hopefully Leeds and Saints will falter.

"I'm just looking forward to playing my part. I've been going okay without being spectacular but hopefully I'll get better now."