Bradford Bulls will be without rising star John Bateman until June after he was handed a three-match ban for dangerous play.
The 18-year-old back-row forward, an academy international, was found guilty of a grade D dangerous tackle on full-back Brett Hodgson during the Bulls’ 32-16 Carnegie Challenge Cup defeat at the hands of Warrington Wolves last Saturday.
Bateman, who was also fined £300 by the Rugby Football League’s disciplinary committee, will begin his suspension at London Broncos on Sunday before also missing the game against Salford City Reds and the Magic Weekend clash with Leeds Rhinos in Manchester on May 27.
He was put on report by referee James Child and the RFL’s match-review panel claimed he “forcefully applied unnecessary pressure to the head and/or neck and/or spinal column of his opponent so as to keep the tackled player at a disadvantage in or after the tackle”.