Bradford Bulls take care of star and happy to be led by him

He also admitted he and his fellow coaching staff are likely to be led by the full back himself, in terms of when the 28-year-old feels ready to play again.

Of those who missed out on the Betfred Championship opener at Wakefield two weeks ago or got injured during that game, only Eribe Doro is back in the 21-man squad to face Halifax tomorrow night at Odsal.

It has been a chaotic start to the campaign in terms of personnel, and while O’Carroll expects Eliot Peposhi back to face Featherstone in 10 days’ time, Ebon Scurr, Ben Blackmore, Jordan Baldwinson, Dan Okoro and Lee Gaskell are all a few weeks away from returning yet.

But one surprise name back in contention is Holmes, even if that return, for obvious reasons, is not immediate.

O’Carroll told the T&A: “We’re taking things day by day and being diligent with Tom because he’s been through a lot mentally too with his cancer treatment, even though he’s in a great head space now.

“Tom’s been ticking over alongside the squad for a while but he’s not been doing anything like the proper thing in terms of training, so we’re almost starting again, at ground zero, with him.

“We’ve been taking opinions from others (medical experts) on how we approach things with Tom’s return to action.

“But we’ll probably leave some of it up to him, in terms of us being happy to let him put his hand up when he feels ready to play again.”

Though Holmes spent most of last season at full-back, he has spent most of his career in the halves, as has Gaskell.

But with both absent for the derby with Fax, the Bulls go into the fixture with just one natural half-back in Jordan Lilley.

That seems, to put it politely, less than ideal for Bradford, but O’Carroll said: “We’ve got exceptional players in the squad that we feel can do a very good job alongside Jordan in the halves against Fax, even if we’ll probably need to change the way we play as a result.

“The spine of the team is so important, and we’re without Tom and Lee in there now, but I’m confident in the group we’ve got for Friday night.”

Surprisingly, that group may include Doro, who was expected to be out until at least mid-April with an ankle injury, but subject to late fitness checks ahead of tomorrow’s game, will take his place in the 17 against Fax.

Eribe Doro is back in contention for Bulls far quicker than expected. (Image: Tom Pearson.)

O’Carroll said: “What you see from Eribe on the field is what you get off it, and he’s been working extremely hard to get back fit.

“He’s progressed nicely and he’s in with a chance of facing Halifax, but we won’t rush him.

“We have to make sure he’s fit for selection and if that means waiting until we face Featherstone, so be it.”

Another forward is definitely back, John Davies returning from suspension, but winger Jorge Taufua starts his own two-game ban for head contact on Wakefield’s Josh Griffin, in a desperate but futile attempt to stop the Trinity man scoring a try.

O’Carroll said: “It’s frustrating to lose Jorge but I understand what the sport’s trying to do in increasing its focus on player safety.

“What I would say is that no-one’s going in to tackle with their head deliberately, so the Jorge incident was clearly accidental.

“Rugby league is a high-contact sport and there will be errors like that.

“Personally, I felt he’d copped enough punishment with the yellow card on the field and having to miss the rest of the game with concussion, without the ban on top.”