BULLS starlet Reiss Butterworth is reaping the benefits of his loan stint at Batley.

The 19-year-old has scored two tries in three appearances for Matt Diskin’s Championship side.

Butterworth has been playing at half-back rather than hooker for the Bulldogs and Bulls coach John Kear believes the teenager will be learning plenty.

Kear said: “I have an interest because obviously Batley is a club I’ve got a certain affinity with after spending five years of my life there.

“It’s nice just watching them and I watch with a bit of extra interest because Reiss is playing.

“He played half-back last week and did a half-decent job in a team that’s dogged by injuries.

“Reiss was a half-back when he first signed. The coaching staff at the time thought the hooking role was more suited to him and that’s why they’ve tried to work him there.

“But obviously if you’ve played half-back as a kid, it’s not that difficult to switch back into it.

“It’s doing him a load of good and let’s hope he plays for Batley again this coming weekend.”

Kear is keen to add versatility to the armoury of every young player – Rowan Milnes has similarly been switched to centre from the wing.

He added: “I always feel the more positions a player plays in his development, the better he is. He understands the game holistically rather than just from one role.

“I always talk about Scott Grix at Wakefield as a good example.

“We’d just been in administration and were skint and Scott ended up playing full back, wing, centre, six, seven and nine. He always says it’s the best education you could possibly have.

“Every game he was having to think differently and it’s similarly so with Reiss. The more a young player knows about the game, the better.

“It’s like footballers. They often tend to play in midfield before they set up as a striker or start as a striker and end up in the number 10 position.

“It’s part of the education in any game to do as many roles as possible.”