Former Bradford Bulls man and England star Tom Burgess’ season potentially saved by skin of its teeth

Yesterday, players from Leeds and Salford breathed a huge sigh of relief after the disciplinary panel ruled that no player from the victorious sides in last weekend’s play-off games deserved a ban with the likes of Matt Prior and James Bentley avoiding suspensions following debate starting incidents.

Only the Catalans Dragons suffered bans with Gil Dudson’s Warrington career set to be delayed by the three-match ban he coped for a headbutt on Aidan Sezer.

In the NRL however teams have been less lucky with former Bradford man Tom Burgess receiving a ban that could end his season depending on results.

In a fiery play-off clash against rivals Sydney, Burgess received one of seven yellow cards as the game broke records for the number of sin bins in an NRL contest as sides bizarrely scored when low on the numbers with the Bunnies at one stage scoring with 11 against 13.

Burgess gave an early guilty plea which sees his charges for two careless high tackles warrant a two-game ban.

This means should Souths lose this weekend or indeed should they progress to week three and lose their preliminary final, Burgess won’t play again before the World Cup.

However, should Souths return to the Grand Final where they lost 14-12 to Penrith last year, Burgess could indeed get to play one last time prior to the World Cup, and having a player with NRL Grand Final experience in Shaun Wane’s England squad would certainly be a boost.

His Souths teammate Taane Milne picked up two yellow cards but didn’t receive a ban but rather a $1800 fine after an early guilty plea.