Bulls Forward Elliott Whitehead was today banned for five games and fined £300.00 for biting by the RFL's Disciplinary Committee meeting in Leeds.
Whitehead was found guilty of biting Hull KR Forward Jordan Cox in the 65th minute of last Sunday's game at Odsal.
Whitehead, who was accompanied by Coach Mick Potter and Football Manager Stuart Duffy, pleaded not guilty to the charge. In his submission, evidence was produced from the Doctor which stated that Whitehead could not have been in control of his actions at the time of the offence as he had been knocked unconscious only four minutes prior to the incident. The Bulls also provided a Cogsport Head Test Certificate, taken earlier today, which showed there was still a degree of concussion that would not have allowed him to play as of today. Whitehead himself informed the panel that he could not remember anything of the game or the incident and apologised for any illegal action he had undertaken.
In finding the player guilty, the panel stated that the fact he had been allowed to stay on the field by medical staff at the time meant that he had to be fully accountable for his actions and whilst there was no doubting he had been knocked out, it wasn't mitigating circumstances in this incident. The panel, which consisted of Judge Peter Charlesworth, Russ Bridge and Nathan McAvoy and had to power to suspend him for up to eight matches, took into account his exemplary Disciplinary Record in reaching their verdict and punishment.
[sizeThe Bulls will not be appealing against the decision.[/size

What a tit.

Well done Elliott. Well done indeed.

Idiot.

Well that just puts a tin-hat on what might be the worst halves of rugby I've ever seen from us. 28-nil at home and a five game ban for one of our best players would be some going in eighty minutes, let alone forty.

Whole thing seems plain weird. Can anyone remember Whitehead doing anything like this before? Anyone have any thoughts on the claims of mitigation? Never been concussed myself, suspect my skull is too thick.

McAvoy back to haunt us, also...

Fool. Deserves it then.

So he misses the rest of this season plus the first 2 games of next year.
Unless we loan him out for a couple of weeks to a lower league side who's season starts before ours so his ban is used up before SL starts.

But no SL would be so underhand as to use THAT sort of tactic.

As for deserves it, I've been concussed and I fully believe that Whitehead hasn't any recollection of the events nor was in total control of himself at the time

think your still allowed to use one friendly game towards a ban so he should only miss first game of next season unless that rules changed.

Oh dear. Stupid boy. It is unlike him. But they RFL obviously had the evidence so there can be no excuses.

No defending it really. Concussion or no concussion you cannot justify what he's done.

I'll bet that on top of missing his clubs remaining 3 SL fixtures that he will be allowed to sit out 2 pre season friendlies to clear his ban just in time for the start of SL

wrong. just checked rules. section D 28.d covers it. your allowed to count one pre-season warmup game towards a ban so its like I thought and he will miss only first game of next season.

What an odd judgement. The panel accepted the evidence but it doesn't count in mitigation.

They have accepted he was knocked out, concussed (had a degree of brain injury), didn't know where he was or what he was doing. Had no recollection of the event (or indeed, the match).

But as the medical team had left him on the pitch he is accountable for his actions. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

There are two parties who could be up for sanctioning here, but the panel can only sanction the player - so they did so.

If he was knocked out earlier, as claimed, then he shouldn't have been on the field, as, I'm sure, RFL guidelines say any player knocked out during a game should not be allowed to continue playing in that particular game.

Fool, what a tragic season he has had. Still top of superleague stats for most errors and missed tackles! Embarrassing. What this biting scenario will do for his reputation I do not know.

Cant beleive you guys that are slagging the kid ? the doctor says he wasnt in control of his actions and the fault lies with coaching staff who left him on.
It will be interesting to see if any other players that get KOd get taken off asap.(luke Robinson springs to mind this weekend)

your doctor sounds like one of OJ Simpsons lawyers