Scruton the survivor begs for time for his new Bulls

Bradford prop Nick Scruton believes the new-look Bulls squad will be a force to reckon with once they have had a chance to get to know each other.

Mick Potter's men are one of four clubs still to get off the mark after the first two rounds of the Super League season but Scruton believes they will start to show their true quality by April.

The Bulls performed valiantly in a 32-28 opening defeat by Leeds, when they had nine debutants, and they were without two of their half-backs, Kyle Briggs and Marc Herbert, for last week's hammering by Wigan.

"We have a new coach, a new assistant and a lot of new players, and we are still adapting to that," said Scruton, one of the survivors of the club's close-season clear-out.

"We have had two very tough games for a side just coming together. I don't think it could have been any harder, really, particularly after the way we lost to Leeds and then to come up against the best side in the game was tough.

"I think people will be better judging us after seven or eight games of the season when we are fully adapted as a team. We will improve every week. We are training really hard every day and, when we hit our straps, we will be difficult to beat because we have some outstanding individuals."

Bradford look to get off the mark tonight against Crusaders at the Racecourse Ground, where they lost 44-20 last season. "We will not take them lightly but we know we need to win and we'll be going all out for it," said Scruton.

One man relishing the clash is the Crusaders prop Richard Moore, who won a Super League ring and a Challenge Cup medal in three years with the Bulls before moving on to Leigh and Wakefield.

He joined Iestyn Harris's team in the close season and made his debut in the 42-12 win over Salford on the Cardiff opening weekend, when they clawed back two of the four points the club were docked for going into administration.