Heath L’Estrange never doubted the Bulls’ time would come.

Questions had been asked following defeat in their opening two Super League games but they finally came good as Castleford bore the brunt of their frustrations on Friday.

Bradford provided a strong indication of their true potential with a thumping 41-22 win and a performance that seemed to be free of previous shackles.

The pack did the dirty work, allowing L’Estrange and halves Matt Orford and Brett Kearney to unleash their creative talents in a display that vindicated the players’ unwavering faith.

L’Estrange said: “We copped a bit of criticism during the week, us boys in the middle, so we had to step up.

“We ran hard, tackled hard and that’s what won us the game.

“We knew this time was going to come when we came out and ripped in. It was only a matter of time.

“We’ve got a few more things to work on in our defence and we’ll work on that in the week.

“But it was great. It was all coming out of our middle and, as soon as we went forward, all the boys ran up.

“Everyone had a great game, nobody had a bad game.”

The win against Cas proved to be a breakout display for L’Estrange, as he caused continual problems around the ruck with his speed and clever distribution.

Orford and Kearney benefited off the back of that and the cohesion of the Bulls’ combinations was in stark contrast with the scrappy, haphazard showing in the previous week’s defeat to St Helens.

L’Estrange said: “We didn’t get too much time to practice in the off-season, it was snowing the whole time, so we had to keep going to Huddersfield to train indoors.

“We’re starting to gel. I’m not saying right now we’re going to be world-beaters, it’ll take time, but that was just one step down and we’ll keep going.

“We all just realised if we push for each other we’ll score tries and that’s what happened.

“Our forward pack went forward and that let Matty and Brett do all their stuff at the back.”

The five-day turnaround bet-ween the games against Saints and Cas came as a bit of a shock to the system for L’Estrange – used to more rest and recuperation time in the NRL.

But he enjoyed having the chance to quickly right the previous wrongs.

“I know I needed that,” said L’Estrange.

“I played better and I think the boys need me to go forward first before they can get quick ball. So if they see me going forward, they can run off the back of me.

“In the NRL you’re not allowed to have a turnaround like that, from Sunday to Friday, but I enjoyed it and a lot of the boys did.

“We just rolled straight into the next game and it was a lot better.”