Bulls supporters may still be smarting from the last-gasp defeat at Millennium Stadium 12 months ago, but McNamara insisted: "Last year was a great occasion, though if you are a Bulls fan the result was surrounded by controversy.

"I was sceptical before we went, but I was very, very pleased by the weekend and the way things went.

"Everyone forgets what a great game it was, they just remember what happened at the end. I think this year we are in for a real treat and hopefully the game will be a classic again.

"We let ourselves down at Headingley last time we played Leeds and we were disappointed with that, but last year has no relevance. There's no thoughts of that in our minds at all." Bulls have lost just once since their 44-2 Easter drubbing by Rhinos and McNamara has been "reasonably happy" with his team's form over the past couple of months. He said: "We've had one slip-up, at Hull KR, but apart from that we've gone okay since then.

"We got our bums kicked last time and we're sore about that, but we've improved since then and hopefully we can improve again on Saturday.

"We played well against Wigan last week and it's important we perform well and build on that. We know we have got to be good to win and our aim is to do that."

The Bulls boss said he is impressed with the way Rhinos haven't let injuries disrupt them in recent weeks.

"They had a great win at Hull KR, considering the disruption to their squad," he said. "They've had injuries, like every other team, but they still managed to go to a very difficult venue and come away with a win. That's great credit to them."

Bulls are without Ben Jeffries (hamstring), but Wayne Godwin (shoulder), Michael Platt (hamstring) and Tame Tupou (knee) are all back in contention.