THE Bulls “hold all the aces” in the loan swap deal that has taken Reiss Butterworth to Castleford, John Kear insists.

Experienced forward James Green will go straight into the Bradford squad for Sunday’s trip to Hunslet as part of the switch with the Tigers.

Green is out of contract at the end of the season and has already been sounded out about the possibility of making his move permanent for next year.

Butterworth still has two years to run on his Odsal deal – and the potential departure of the teenage talent has come as a surprise to supporters.

But Kear stressed the Bulls are in a “no-lose” situation with the exchange.

He said: “We have got a strong hand. I feel we hold all the aces.

“I can understand what some fans are saying. But what they’ve got to realise is Reiss is a 19-year-old hooker who isn’t featuring in our first team at the moment because of the form of (George) Flanagan, (Vila) Halafihi and (Sam) Hallas.

“We’re going to get a player who in all likelihood will rack up 10 first team games.

“My job is to get this club hopefully out of this division at the first attempt. That’s what we’re endeavouring to do.

“It’s like in life, sometimes you have to cash in your ISA.

“Reiss is our player until we deem it’s appropriate for him to move on. Should he do that, we’ll get more than adequate compensation.”

Butterworth recently returned from a loan spell in the Championship at Batley, scoring two tries in three appearances, but finds himself well down the Odsal pecking order. Kear sees the move in the short term as an ideal learning opportunity for the youngster.

“Castleford are admirers of Reiss as many other Super League clubs are – as we are,” added the Bulls coach.

“But he’s got an opportunity for the next three months to be mentored by Paul McShane, to work under Darryl Powell, Ryan Sheridan and Danny Orr in a full-time environment.

“We produced him and that’s credit to people like John Bastian, Mark Dunning and Leigh Beattie.

“Should he move on, we’ll get compensation. It’s a no-lose situation for us because we gain James Green and should Reiss return to us, we’ll gain a player with different experience in his development.

“Should Castleford want him on the completion of his loan, they’ll obviously have to pay transfer fee and/or a player exchange.”

Green played nine times for Kear for Batley and will beef up the pack going into the final straight of the League One promotion race.

“He’s a big man but he’s also a very good rugby league player,” said Kear. “He carries the ball very well, he’s a good defender and has a good off-load.

“He’s another quality middle-channel player and we’ll need them in these last 10 games.

“We’re going towards the end of a long season and you need some biff and some bash to maintain the intensity.

“We’ve basically told him that should we like what we see, there’s every possibility we’ll try to sign him for next year – hopefully in the Championship.

“He has got big-game experience and people forget how young our team is.

“You look at Lee Smith and Ash Gibson, Steve Crossley and Matty Garside and think there’s plenty of experience. No there isn’t.

“We’ve got some experienced players but a lot of young men still learning the game.

“Sometimes in situations we’re coming up to, you need experience and he’ll add to that in the middle.

“He adds an element of ‘I know where I’m at and what the situation is’. It’s similar with George Flanagan and one of the reasons we recruited him.”