Bulls' title charge tarnished
Bradford Bulls' 2005 Grand Final triumph was tarnished on Monday when they were found guilty of breaking Super League's salary cap.
The champions, told a week ago that they had a case to answer following an independent audit of last season's finances, were found guilty of over-spending when they appeared in front of the Rugby Football League's independent three-man judiciary panel in Leeds.
They were docked two competition points with immediate effect after admitting spending between 52 and 55% of their income on players' wages and they were also fined £25,000 - £15,000 of it suspended for two years - after pleading guilty to conduct prejudicial to the interests of the game.
Super League clubs are allowed to spend no more than 50% of their income on players' wages, up to a maximum of £1.78million annually.
Wigan were deducted two points and fined £50,000 a week ago after being found guilty of overspending on players' wages by a similar margin while four other clubs were punished for minor breaches.
The Bulls' points deduction effectively scuppers their chances of overhauling Leeds in third place in the table but, more importantly, will take some of the gloss off their remarkable run to the 2005 title.
Bradford won 12 matches in a row to pip Leeds to Grand Final glory but chairman Peter Hood, who took over the role earlier this year from Chris Caisley, denied the short-term recruitment of Great Britain forward Adrian Morley took them over the spending limit. Morley joined the Bulls on loan from Sydney Roosters in September and played in the last six matches of their glorious run.
"I can tell you absolutely that it was nothing whatsoever to do with Adrian Morley," said Hood.
Like Wigan, Bradford are thought to have used the cost of replacing unavailable players in mitigation. They signed Australian centre Ben Harris from Canterbury Bulldogs in May to offset the loss of Shontayne Hape, who was injured playing for New Zealand in the Tri-Nations Series final last November, and brought in Parramatta hooker Ian Henderson to fill the void caused by the drugs ban imposed on new signing Ryan Hudson.
Bradford have 14 days to appeal against the punishment and Hood said: "We are going away to consider our position. There is always a possibility of an appeal but I am making no comment on that."
