BULLS centre Kieran Gill has admitted he is still learning, both from his experienced fellow backs and from the “brutally honest” Brian Noble.
Gill was the playing representative at Tuesday night’s fans’ forum at Odsal, and credited teammates and staff for the uplift in mood and performances over the past three months.
He said: “With what Brian has done at the club over the past few decades, everyone looks up to him.
“But you can’t take a backwards step with him, as he’s brutally honest with you.
“He knows everything about you, ins and outs, and wants you to be the best player you can.
“He always says he’ll make me the greatest centre that he wants me to be, and I’ll always stick by that.
“I know he does that with every other position and player too.”
That includes experienced new acquisitions like Jorge Taufua and Lee Gaskell, with Gill thrilled to be learning from top-class older players.
He said: “You’ve got the likes of Jorge and Lee, then Ben Blackmore and Joe Arundel from the start of the season.
“They’ve all got vast experience and there’s things I can learn from, Joe has played at the top level from the age of 16 for example.
“I’m still learning a lot as a player and how I want to be.
“Coming into these last eight games, these are the guys who have the knowledge of where we need to be as a club.
“Everyone can take their experience and values of what we need to be doing to make sure we can compete and push for the play-offs.”
But the whole squad plays its part in what Gill referred to as a “special” environment.
He said: “It is special and with the wide range of players we’ve got, we’ve bonded really well this year and it’s having an impact on the game we’re playing.
“There have been injuries to players, but you have to put it to one side and adapt.
“We have good squad rotation here, and though there’s only 17 of us that take the field each week, there’s 26 players behind the scenes.
“You’ve got the reserves too, and if they’re doing well, they get chance to train with the first team.
“It’s having the opportunity to work alongside others, so it’s not what the fans see on the weekend, it’s what we do, day in, day out and the connections we have.
“There are different players you don’t see on a weekly basis, but I work alongside them and train with them all the time.”
The fanbase means a lot to Gill too, who had a hectic day on Tuesday.
He laughed: “I was up and out for work in Birmingham at 6am, set off back here at 1:30pm but got stuck on the motorway and didn’t get back for training until 6pm.
“It wasn’t great but I got asked to do this forum the other day, and it’s something that’s close to my heart, making sure the fans getting to hear input from the players.
“It’s always beneficial for them to hear from us.”
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