Highly-rated Bulls assistant coach Francis Cummins is constantly searching for new ideas – and has looked at other sports to find them.

Cummins, who was right-hand man to Tony Smith and then Brian McClennan at Leeds, brought to an end a 17-year stint with the Rhinos when he joined Bradford ahead of last season.

The 2011 campaign was a tough introduction to life at Odsal for Mick Potter and Cummins but the former Headingley stalwart has no regrets about making the switch.

Cummins, a positive person by nature, is already looking forward to next term with optimism and is determined to see a major upturn in fortunes in 2012.

Potter spent his close-season break meeting with a number of leading coaches Down Under, and Cummins has been treading a similar path since his coaching career began.

Earlier this year, Cummins became the first recipient of the RFL’s annual elite coaching bursary scheme when he flew to Australia to attend a two-day Australian Rugby League High Performance Seminar Programme.

Cummins also met a number of leading Australian coaches at their respective clubs.

Cummins said: “Three years ago I met with Sir Alex Ferguson. He was very generous with his time and it was a great education for me to see how someone like him worked.

“Obviously they have much bigger budgets in Premier League football, and it’s a totally different game, but you try and learn from everything and see what information you can pick up.”

Cummins, tipped to one day land a Super League coaching job, recently met with his old Rhinos team-mate Alan Tait, now head coach at Newcastle Falcons.

“You take away the rugby and there are similarities in situations in our respective organisations,” said Cummins.

“Whether we are different codes or not, I can speak to someone like Alan to see how they operate in their own environment.

“I also have people in business as well who I can chat to.

“Like people in sport, they too may or may not be able to give you ideas.

“Mick has got people that he’s worked with and can speak to, just like myself.

“I worked with Tony Smith at Leeds, who is one of a number of people I can go and chat to.

“It can be tough to do that when we are in-season but during the close-season it’s much easier and I am quite active in that respect.

“The bottom line is that you never stop learning.

“Any information, ideas or practices that Mick and I can pick up and put into use to benefit Bradford Bulls, we will do.”

Bradford’s players speak highly of Cummins and so too does his boss.

“Franny is a pleasure to work with,” said Potter. “He’s organised, he knows what the game is about and he’s not a ‘yes man’.

“He challenges things and that’s the kind of guy you want alongside you.”