Mick Potter declared himself more determined than ever to succeed after taking his first pre-season training session yesterday.

The Bulls coach, 48, has barely had chance to draw breath since arriving back in the UK from Australia on Monday lunchtime.

He headed straight to the funeral of club doctor Roger Brown and was back behind his desk at 7am yesterday before becoming reunited with his players and staff at Tong.

Potter is reinvigorated after his close-season break Down Under – which included spending time with family and friends and meeting coaching counterparts from the NRL.

He said: “This is what I love doing and I want to do it for a lot longer.

“I have been itching to get back here for the past two weeks because I couldn’t wait to get started.

“I knew it would come soon enough and it’s been great to get straight back into it.

“Sadly, my first appointment was the funeral of Dr Brown and then I was back in my office first thing this morning. The jet-lag is there but to see all the guys again has been good.

“They are all bubbling and they performed well in training.

“It’s good to be around a lot of other guys who want to do well and want to achieve things.”

None of the club’s six new signings have yet arrived and the bulk of the Bradford squad do not begin pre-season training until Monday.

Yet Potter saw enough among his men yesterday to believe the 2012 campaign will be a far better year than last term.

“There has been no shortage of enthusiasm among the players,” added Potter.

“They’re all keen to do well and keen to impress.

“There is already a noticeable step up in intensity since our final training session at the end of last season and that bodes well.”