On-loan Bulls full back Aidan McGowan admits his time in the Betfred Championship has been invaluable, as he continues to look more like a Super League player with each passing week.

The Huddersfield prospect, who turned 22 last week, had previously spent time on loan with Batley, York and Dewsbury in the second tier before arriving at Odsal on a season-long deal in December.

He has already shown enough in the claret, amber and black to suggest he will be a Super League regular this time next year, and he does not take for granted what his four Championship clubs have given to him.

McGowan told the T&A: “Being at Bulls, Batley, York and Dewsbury over the last couple of years has benefitted me tonnes.

“It’s given me more confidence in my own ability and all four clubs have helped me to progress.

“When you first go out on loan, you’re not the finished product as a player, so those clubs have had to take a chance on me for that reason, and I’ve got to repay them for their faith.”

Like his current Bulls team-mates Jordan Lilley and Mitch Souter, McGowan is on the slight side, yet the full back has never once this year looked overawed by bigger and stronger players, either when he is being tackled or making tackles himself.

The 22-year-old said: “I’ve definitely worked on my strength over the years, coming through the academy at Huddersfield and once I started playing first team rugby.

“You’ve just got to make use of the cards you’re dealt and work on it if you are naturally a bit smaller and lighter.

“In rugby league, physicality is the game, there’s no point shying away from that, so you have to adapt accordingly.”

Like Fenton Rogers last year, because McGowan is on a season-long loan at Odsal, he is training with the Bulls all week during the league campaign, having spent pre-season at Huddersfield.

Bradford Telegraph and Argus: Fenton Rogers was a hugely influential player for Bulls last year on loan from Huddersfield, and Aidan McGowan is already following neatly in his footsteps.Fenton Rogers was a hugely influential player for Bulls last year on loan from Huddersfield, and Aidan McGowan is already following neatly in his footsteps. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

He admits that has helped him get to know his new team-mates and form bonds on and off the pitch.

And Bulls’ players had to stick together amid an injury crisis before and during their Championship opener at Wakefield last Friday, a game they unsurprisingly lost 42-12 at the title favourites.

But McGowan reflected: “Wakefield are a good team, they showed that on Friday, but the most important thing is that we reflect on the game and focus on ourselves.

“The first half especially, I thought a lot of our problems were down to us, with us not doing things on the night as we’d practised or talked about during the week.

“We spoke about wanting to dominate territory for example and we didn’t quite do that, so it’s something we need to fix up.”

McGowan was largely blameless for the defeat, as Bulls’ best player on the night along with young on-loan second row Harvey Wilson.

And the full back produced a champagne moment when combining with Kieran Gill to score Bulls’ opening try of the game from 80 metres out.

A modest McGowan said: “It was Gilly who did all the hard work, I just pushed through to score.

“It was a good team try really and for that to be my first in the league for Bradford, in front of a packed crowd, was a nice feeling.”