ERIBE Doro admits he had plenty of offers to go elsewhere for 2024, but Bulls had made such an impression on him that he was ready to commit to them just five weeks after joining.

Released by Halifax, Doro only signed for Bradford on August 3, yet he had put pen to paper on a new one-year deal at Odsal by September 8.

Speaking to the T&A after his barnstorming performance in the Betfred Championship play-off eliminator win over York on Sunday, Doro said: “Everyone at the club has made me feel more than welcome, so when the opportunity came, the other offers didn’t seem as exciting to me.

“The staff and the boys have been amazing with me, so given the opportunity to stay and build on what we’re doing this year, it was one I couldn’t turn down.”

Joining at the tail-end of a high-stakes season was easier than Doro expected too, as he said: “I feel like at a different club it might have been harder to fit in.

“But it feels like I’ve been here all year, and from day one I’ve felt like part of the team.

“I’ve loved every minute of it.”

Bulls did not enjoy every minute of their bruising 52-14 defeat at Toulouse in June during the regular season, but heading back to the South of France again on Saturday for the pair’s Betfred Championship play-off semi-final, Doro and his team-mates have been buoyed by recent displays.

He said: “The tough games are the ones we want to play.

“Going there will be tough, but we’ve had five tough games in a row.

“We’ve been building towards this, and I’m confident in the boys and our ability.

“We’ll take some confidence from tonight and go again, head to Toulouse and give them a game.”

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Eribe Doro has not lost a game away from home yet with Bulls, helping them to wins at Swinton, London and Sheffield.Eribe Doro has not lost a game away from home yet with Bulls, helping them to wins at Swinton, London and Sheffield. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

There should be a sizeable travelling army of Bulls fans in Toulouse, and Doro hopes they can come close to recreating the raucous atmosphere they did on Sunday night at Odsal.

He enthused: “Playing in front of that crowd, it was one of the best I’ve played in front of in my career.

“It does make a big difference. When you do something good and you hear the crowd get behind you, it gives you that lift to go again.

“Having them behind us today was a massive thing for us.”

Doro and Fenton Rogers played a huge part in raising the decibel levels, the young props causing York no end of trouble after coming off the interchange bench.

The former said: “To be honest, big raps to Fenny because he was unbelievable.

“He’s talked about running off the back of me, but me running of the back of him was unbelievable.

“When he’s in that form, my job’s easy, so I really enjoyed playing alongside him today.”

It was Doro’s brilliant break that led to he and Jordan Lilley setting up Tom Holmes’ try in the second half, and the prop said: “I don’t get over for many tries myself, so when you have an involvement like that, it’s a boost and it feels like you’ve scored it.

“Jordy was telling me all day that offload was on, so it’s good when that comes off.”