Flanagan given eight-game ban for ‘attack on testicles’

Bradford Bulls hooker George Flanagan has been banned for eight games for a Grade F ‘attack on the testicles’ in his side’s loss to Toronto.

The 32-year-old was seen on video making contact with the groin area of Wolfpack fullback Hakim Miloudi during the game on 4 August.

An independent tribunal found him guilty of the offence, handing him an eight-game suspension and a £250 fine.

He will miss the rest of this season, as well as the first five games of 2020.

There have been similar incidents in Super League, with current Halifax back-rower Kevin Larroyer banned for two games in 2017 for an incident involving Catalans centre Vincent Duport while at Castleford.

England’s South Sydney Rabbitohs forward Sam Burgess was banned for two games in the National Rugby League in Australia for a ‘squirrel grip’ on Melbourne centre Will Chambers in 2013.