JOE Bullock’s nomination for the Kingstone Press League One player of the year award is a reward heeding the advice given to him at the end of last year, according to Barrow Raiders head coach Paul Crarey.

The prop has been one of the stand-out players for the Raiders this year, playing a significant role in both the League One Cup triumph and the team securing a place in the promotion play-offs.

It was therefore little surprise to see him named as one of the nominees for the division’s player of the year along with Toronto Wolfpack duo Craig Hall and Bob Beswick earlier this week.

And Crarey revealed it was a talk between him and Bullock at last year’s club presentation night laid the foundations for his impressive 2017 campaign.

“He cleaned up the first year I was here and he was disappointed last year, but we spoke about it at the awards and we talked about where he could improve with his concentration levels and consistency,” said Crarey.

“I said ‘If you do that, you’ll be picking up awards’ and he has done that.

“We’ve changed his lines of running a bit and given him a bit of footwork, but the other thing is he’s so brave and strong, and he’s scored some fantastic tries where he’s burst 50 or 60 metres.

“You don’t see that at this level and you hardly see it at Super League level.”

The nomination committee are not the only ones who have taken note of displays from Bullock, who passed 100 career appearances this year and is now just two away from a century in a Barrow shirt.

Several coaches have enquired with Crarey about the 24-year-old, while Championship promotion favourites Hull Kingston Rovers made an approach for his services earlier this year too.

But Bullock, who signed a two-year extension to his current contract with the option for a third year back in March, is happy to stay put at Barrow – much to the delight of Crarey.

“There’s still a long way to go for him to be a Super League player or even a top-end Championship player,” said Crarey.

“But he's gone from Wigan to Leigh to us, not really being wanted, to potential Super League teams asking about him and other coaches ringing me about him, and he’s turned it down.

“He’s said ‘why do I want to go back to that again when I’m here and developing?’ He’s turned down the offer to go somewhere else and that’s a massive statement for this club.”

Crarey was among the nominees for end-of-season honours as well, being named on the shortlist for coach of the year along with Whitehaven player-coach Carl Forster and York City Knight's James Ford.

But the Barrow boss, who missed on on the award last year to Toulouse Olympique's Sylvain Houles, was quick to play down his own nomination.

Instead, Crarey praised the Raiders squad for their efforts this year in reaching the last 16 of the Challenge Cup, winning the League One Cup and qualifying for the play-offs for the second year in a row.

“I've had some nice texts of the lads and I've said to them I don't need a trophy, I just need respect from them – and some of the texts from the players shows I've got that,” said Crarey.

“We've got a great group, we have no trouble from them, they work so hard, and we've built a great culture here with a great group of lads.

“I always say players make coaches and I'm so proud of what they've achieve this year – and people don't realise how much they have achieved with a squad of 28 or 29 players, and no loans or no dual-registration.”