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Amateur star faces life ban

27/ 1/2005

ECCLES and Salford Junior's Paul Raftery could be banned for life after being sent home from Australia in disgrace.

The 26-year-old was arrested after a pub brawl during Great Britain's amateur tour Down Under last summer.

Now Raftery has been summoned to go before The British Amateur Rugby League Association (BARLA) disciplinary committee in Hull on Monday.

The Roosters forward was convicted of causing actual bodily harm and fined £800 by the Australian Courts in July.

It was alleged Raftery had attacked a local man after drinking 15 pints of beer.

Civil servant Raftery, from Flixton, was sent home along with East Hull's Gary Weymes, former West Hull's Lawrence Wildbore and Wigan St Patrick's Paul Jones.

But BARLA's disciplinary chairman Wally Walker expects Raftery to escape with a fine or a short ban if found guilty. He said: "The players could face life bans but it is unlikely to come to that."