YORK City Knights hooker Andy Ellis grew up in awe of Bradford Bulls – but will go head to head with them this weekend insisting they are not indestructible.

The fallen West Yorkshire giants come to Bootham Crescent on Sunday for a cracker of a season opener in Betfred League One.

Veteran schemer Ellis is well aware the visitors begin term as huge favourites as they look to climb back up the tiers under former England coach John Kear. Indeed they have been installed at 4-9 to win the competition, while the league's sponsors are also offering just 20-1 on star man Dane Chisholm, one of several big-name full-time players still in the ranks, notching a whopping 40-plus tries this year.

But the Knights' number nine has not ruled out his team's chances of causing an opening day upset in front of a bumper home crowd, suggesting the Bulls no longer have the aura they once had.

“Bradford Bulls have got this history of being World Club champions and Super League champions however many years in a row,” said the 33-year-old former Championship winner and Man of Steel.

“I remember growing up thinking, ‘Oh my God, look at these guys, they’re brilliant.’

“But that was quite a few years ago now and they’ve had some poor circumstances since. The rubbish hit the fan several times, so to speak, and they’ve gone from being this ‘superclub’ to another club in League One.

“Just because they’ve got the name Bradford Bulls does not mean they’re indestructible. There are 14 teams in the league and we will see how it goes.”

The Knights have their own ambitions this season and Ellis reckons Sunday’s eagerly-awaited game could prove a good marker with which to start the competition.

“It will set us in good stead and see where we’re at and where they’re at,” he reasoned.

“They’re meant to be odds-on favourites and it will be interesting to see how things go.

“John Kear is a good coach. It will be good to see how we go.”

Asked if York, fourth favourites to top the table according to Betfred, could be among the teams competing with Bradford for promotion, Ellis said: “We believe so.

“We proved last year we can compete. We got to fourth and played in that semi-final up at Whitehaven (an epic 21-20 defeat after a world record 26 minutes of extra time).

“I think looking at that and at how we’ve recruited since and how we’ve trained, we’ve got a good opportunity to make progress.”

Former London Broncos hooker Ellis came out of retirement for a second time last March when first joining James Ford’s team. A few niggling injuries restricted him to 15 appearances of a possible 24 but he says he has loved his time at the club.

“I enjoyed it so much last year I thought I would go another year,” he said regarding the upcoming campaign.

“It’s the first pre-season in a couple of years for me, after I came out of retirement for Fordy. It’s been good.

“The team has gelled well, especially with the new recruits coming in.”

He added of their 2018 ambitions: “The goals will stay in-house really, between the squad and the coaches.

“There are the usual goals of performing well and winning games. The other team goals and season-long goals are more for us.”