And while he’s “absolutely gutted” with how it came about, the fair-haired front-rower is hopeful he has done enough to grab it.
Joe Philbin’s adductor muscle injury has opened up a place in The Wire’s theoretical 17 for the Challenge Cup Final against Wigan Warriors, with Bullock among the favourites to fill it alongside the likes of Max Wood and Adam Holroyd.
Saturday’s Super League clash with the Warriors could have been seen as a final audition and having made more metres than any other prop on the field for either side, Bullock may well have given himself the edge.
“Of course,” he said when asked if earning a place in the cup final team was a motivation for him during the 19-18 loss at The Halliwell Jones Stadium.
“It’s frustrating when you don’t play but I signed here for another two years because I want to be a part of this club and what we’re going for.
“Part of that is that we’re going to have a lot of great players, so there’s going to be competition for spots.
“I’m absolutely gutted for Philbs – it’s never nice to see that happen to a teammate and a friend that close to the final – but if there’s an opportunity, I’ve got to take it with both hands.
“If I get the chance to play which hopefully I can, it would be amazing.
“If not, I’ll be cheering the lads on and hoping we win that trophy. Whoever gets that bench spot will graft and make it work.
“This is what we play for. You want to be in these big matches.
“These past few weeks have been really enjoyable – it’s a great time to be a Warrington rugby league player and inside the bubble we’re in.
“It’s a fantastic week ahead now and we’re going to enjoy it.”
Bullock was one of the 12 changes Sam Burgess made to his Wire side, which included four debutants in Cai Taylor-Wray, Jake Thewlis, Nolan Tupaea and Ben Hartill.
Wigan’s side was much closer to full-strength, and they looked well-set to pull away once they had turned a 12-0 deficit into a 19-12 half-time lead.
However, Warrington had the better of the second half and had the defending Super League champions hanging on at the end.
“We said we wanted to go after them – they had a pretty strong side out but we had belief,” Bullock said.
“With what we’re creating this year, it’s not just about the 17 that play every week. It goes beyond that.
“We train hard together every week so the lads who came in fitted straight into the system.
“I wasn’t surprised we made a start like that as we’ve been doing that all year.
“We spoke at half time about not wanting to get rattled.
“We had a bit of inexperience in there and it would have been easy for us to fold over and accept they were getting on top of us, but we regrouped and went again.
“We wanted to get back to what we were doing well in that first half and that’s what we did – we got back into the grind and it’s pleasing to see.
“We said all week that we had nothing to lose and that we could attack it. We’re wanting to build something as a club and that was a real example with four lads on debut and others that don’t play that often coming in.
“It was a great thing to see and we were in that game all the way. It’s a proud day for the club.”
