The Bulls must earn the right to play football, according to scrum half Matt Orford.

Attempts to unlock their game have been so far been stifled, defeats against Huddersfield and St Helens destroying hope they could hit the ground running.

Instead, a standing start has seen Bradford score just 18 points in two games, while conceding 62. Their only try in Sunday’s 38-6 loss to St Helens came 44 seconds from the end.

But Orford is convinced potential can be realised, as long as the Bulls do the donkey work in laying a solid platform.

Mirroring the comments of team-mate and fellow Aussie import Glenn Hall last week, he believes work at the ruck must improve in tonight’s home clash against Castleford (8pm).

Orford said: “The big difference between here and home is around the ruck.

“Back home in Australia, you get given a bit more time in the ruck but over here, it’s a bit more free-flowing.

“The attacking football is there to be played if you earn the right.

“If you hold onto the ball and work hard, there’s a lot of opportunities to be taken. You can play a lot faster and on the front foot.

“It’s something we’ve been working on and there’s still work that can be done on that. Our big men have been working really hard and everyone in general.

“It’s an area we’ve recognised. If we let their quick guys get a quick play-the-ball, we’ll get burned once again.”

A greater degree of control and precision is also needed.

Errors at crucial moments have served to disrupt momentum and invite pressure, allowing their opponents to heap on points in bunches.

“It wasn’t the script we were after against Saints,” said Orford.

“We got out of the gates really well. For two or three sets, we completed and did okay but we had a period when we gave them the ball through penalties and dropped ball.

“They camped down our end for a good 20 minutes and before we knew it we were 20-0 down. We were chasing our tail, playing catch-up footy and that’s hard in those conditions.

“We were not going forward and not creating space. We were parked in a fair bit and were trying to kick our way out of there.

“When the time’s right we’re going to play football and when the time’s right we’re going to grind things out.

“We need to complete a lot of sets, turn them round and get them playing at their own end. If we can do that and have a really good balance, you’ll see some good footy.”

Orford sees tonight’s return to Odsal action as an ideal opportunity to respond and is determined to renew the fans’ faith in their team.

“There’s no better opportunity than in front of your home crowd and we just want to prove to the fans what we can do,” he said.

“If the fans turn out tonight, they will see a different team.

“The fans are very important in how we go. In tough times when we are defending our line, we do need them.

“We want to make this an intimidating place to come.”