BRADFORD BULLS made quite the coup when they announced the signing of former Featherstone Rovers and Castleford Tigers forward Daniel Smith.
The 30-year-old made 75 appearances for the Tigers before moving on loan to Featherstone during the 2023 season.
Departing Rovers after the club failed to make it past the Championship play-off semi-finals, Smith signed on the dotted line at Bradford – and it’s a move he is enjoying thoroughly.
“I’m really enjoying it, obviously it’s a big club. I was really happy they came in and offered me a contract to be honest,” Smith told League Express.
“I had a good chat with Freddy (Eamon O’Carroll) and obviously I spoke with the CEO (Jason Hirst) and the direction the club was going in appealed to me. I also thought I could help with my experiences which would add to the team.
“Freddy has been really good, I played against him some time go but I’ve never really crossed paths with him. He’s a very smart coach and young so it’s good to see young English coaches coming through.
“You look at the team, there is experience in the Championship with some big players. We’ve got the likes of Jorge Taufua with all that NRL experience and they’ve signed me and John Davies that can add to the pack so it’s looking good. They’ve got some good young kids coming through too, so it’s exciting.”
The Super League ambition still burns bright for Smith who has had to re-evaluate his working life after going part-time.
“I had a couple of offers and sat down with a couple of teams but obviously I didn’t come to any agreement. I was happy to get something sorted with Bradford.
“I still have that Super League ambition and I was hoping to get there with Featherstone but that failed. I’m working as well now so it’s been a bit of a transition period for me, but hopefully I can help get Bradford back in Super League. Hopefully IMG helps them get where they belong.
“I’ve been helping out my mate in construction on the side a little bit. It’s alright, but it’s pretty tough. I’ve been full-time my whole career and then having to work through the day and train on the night, it’s been a bit of a shock to the system but I suppose I will have to do it someday.”
In terms of what the future holds for Smith, he is unsure, but he does like the idea of going into coaching.
“I’m not too sure what I want to do, I do want to go into coaching but obviously I can’t do that whilst I’m still playing. I coach my little boy’s team so I would like to go down that route.
“There are not many jobs that come up there though and I’ve still got quite a few years of playing left in me.”
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