Bulls chairman Peter Hood knows the team cannot afford to make a false start this season.

Last year Bradford were sluggish out of the blocks – winning only two of their opening nine games – and the knock-on effect was huge.

Not only did the Bulls suffer on the pitch, failing to make the Super League play-offs, they suffered off it too, average attendance falling below 10,000 for the first time in the summer rugby era.

But a positive pre-season has brought renewed optimism and Hood is confident strong results and a change in ethos can bring the crowds back to Grattan Stadium.

“Everyone in the organisation recognises the importance of getting off to a good start on the field,” said Hood, ahead of tonight’s season opener against Huddersfield at the Galpharm Stadium.

“If you look at last season, that’s what let us down. I hope, at the same time, that we can play entertaining football and enthuse our fans with the style of our play.

“If we can get those results and play expansive, entertaining football, I’ve every reason to believe we’ll start to build our crowd.”

Season-ticket sales have virtually matched figures from last year, meaning the Bulls should not experience any further drop-off in attendance.

Crowds suffered across the board last year, partly as fans felt the effects of the recession.

But Hood also blames a more conservative approach by teams and believes the competition as a whole has a responsibility to entertain.

He said: “We are as a competition in the entertainment business, there’s no doubt about that. We have an entertaining game.

“If you compare our game to the other code, ours is infinitely the better product, it’s much more watchable and much more entertaining. There is, nevertheless, an onus upon the game as a whole to continue to be entertaining and we certainly intend to do that.

“It’s often said that defence wins games, and I would not for a moment contradict that. We’re going to have to be very solid in defence but also fairly expansive in the way we score tries to get round those other defences that are pretty good in our competition.

“If we can do those things then I see no reason why we shouldn’t enjoy better support in 2010 than we did in 2009.

“In the longer term of course, a new stadium’s part in attendance is absolutely fundamental.

“We’ve looked at figures from Hull and Warrington and it’s beyond dispute that a better environment in the stadium leads to better attendances.”

Hood confirmed at Wednesday’s successful fans’ forum that the Council’s executive committee are set to meet on February 16 for a decision on whether to progress with the proposed Odsal Sporting Village project.

He also revealed ambitious targets for the new season, telling a sizeable crowd at Grattan Stadium the Bulls are hoping for a top-four finish and a place in either the Grand Final or Challenge Cup final.