Toulouse Olympique v Bradford Bulls: Brian Noble ready to make it third time lucky with 'battle-hardened' visitors

The Bulls booked a third consecutive semi-final trip to Toulouse by seeing off Featherstone Rovers in last week's eliminator, making it three wins in a row since losing to their French rivals in August.

Meanwhile, Toulouse – the only team to beat Bradford in their past nine games – claimed two comfortable victories before enjoying a weekend off.

"We've got to be good on Sunday but our progress in the last three or four games has been pretty good," said Noble.

"We've played play-off football for a long time. We're going to have to do that on Sunday.

"We're battle-hardened. Are they undercooked? I really hope so.

"They're full-time, which is an advantage for them, but I fancy us. I always fancy us.

"Both teams will be at their best. If our boys don't come through, it won't be because of a lack of effort or application."

The Bulls have lost both meetings with Toulouse this year and saw their season end at Stade Ernest Wallon in 2023 and 2024.

Noble expects a very different Bradford from the one hammered 36-4 on their last visit.

"The one we lost in March, we weren't ready," he added.

"We were on the back of quite a few good wins and weren't ready for Toulouse, even though we thought we were. We were all culpable.

"But we'll be ready this time. We've shown that when we're ready, we can compete over there.

"We went awfully close last year. We've just got to put a good performance together."