Bulls coach Mick Potter will begin and end the 2012 campaign with matches against his old club Catalan Dragons after the fixtures for next season were published today.

Bradford host the Dragons at Odsal in their season-opener on Sunday, February 5 and face them again in the south of France on the final weekend of the campaign in September.

The second round of the season sees the Bulls travel to Castleford on Sunday, February 12 before a home clash with Wigan seven days later.

Potter’s men then face a run of four successive Saturday matches, all televised by Sky, with an encounter at Wakefield on February 25 followed by a home game against Warring-ton, a trip to Hull KR and a visit from St Helens.

That means the Bulls will face four of last season’s top six on home soil in their opening seven games. Chief executive Ryan Duckett said: “It’s great to start the season with a home game against Catalan.

“Everyone is determined to hit the ground running and start the season with a bang.

“Catalan are quality opposition who Mick knows all about from his time there and the presence of a few ex-Bulls will add a bit of spice to what is an exciting way to start the new season.”

The first derby of the season against sworn enemies Leeds Rhinos has been pencilled in for Friday, April 6 at Odsal, with the trip to Headingley scheduled for July 20.

In between that, the West Yorkshire rivals will clash on May 26 at Manchester City’s Etihad Stadium on the first day of the Magic Weekend.

Bradford’s final home game of the season is against Hull and the trip to the capital to face London Broncos has been scheduled for the first weekend in May.

Duckett added: “The Etihad Stadium is an excellent new venue for the Magic Weekend. I went to the stadium when Great Britain played there a few years ago and it is a fantastic arena.

“I’m sure anyone who goes for the first time for the Magic weekend will not be disappointed.

“We all felt pretty hard done by when we played Leeds in the last Magic weekend and we will be looking for revenge!

“The support we have had for our Pledge campaign has been fantastic once again.

“There are some great games to start the season and we can’t wait for the first ball to be kicked.”

  • Check out the fixtures in full by clicking on the '2012 Fixtures' module at the top of the Bulls homepage