Bulls skipper Robbie Paul has spoken publicly for the first time of the horror moment which left him with a punctured lung and two broken ribs.

The incident, which saw Halifax's Andy Hobson use his knees in a tackle on Sunday, resulted in a two-match ban and a £300 fine for the Blue Sox prop when he appeared before the Rugby League's disciplinary committee last night.

He was found guilty of "careless use of his knees" when he appeared at the League's Red Hall headquarters, accompanied by Blue Sox chief executive Nigel Wood and assistant coach Steve Linnane.

"The offence would not normally have warranted a ban but we recognise that someone was hurt," said a League spokesman.

But despite the injury scare the Kiwi ace is hopeful of being back on the field in three weeks to help spearhead the club's bid for Old Trafford.

"When it happened I could see him coming and knew I was going to get hurt," said Paul, relaxing back at home in Mirfield after two nights in a private hospital at Elland.

"I tried to roll away but in the end just closed my eyes. I couldn't get my breath and I started to panic a bit but after a shot of morphine I went to a happier place!

"I'm feeling pretty good now, but have to go back in

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a couple of days for some X-rays.

"I've been told the lungs should be OK in four days or so and then it will be just a matter of how quickly the ribs heel.

"The doctors think it will take four weeks so I reckon it will be three. But I can promise you I have not finished with this season yet."

Bulls coach Matthew Elliott was a little more cautious but was clearly pleased the prognosis was not as bad as first feared.

"Robbie is operating on a best-case scenario, that he'll be right in three weeks," said Elliott. "If you speak to the medical staff, they laugh when you say that.

"We need to see how it settles down. If there are no complications and the ribs start to heal well, we're optimistic he'll certainly be back by the play-offs and hopefully before then.

"His lung is in a stable condition. It's re-inflated and there is no air in the cavity between the lung and the ribs, so it's a case of focusing on getting his ribs right.

"Because there was so much damage around when they did the X-rays, they'll have to do them again in a few days and we'll have a clearer idea then."

The news is also better for New Zealand coach Frank Endacott, who sees the Paul brothers as key figures in his country's bid to land the Lincoln World Cup, which starts on October 28.

Endacott spoke to older brother Henry about Robbie's condition last night and expressed his relief that the injury was not as bad as first feared.

At the disciplinary hearing Hobson was found not guilty of using his knees on Bulls second-rower Hudson Smith, an incident for which he was sent off shortly after the Paul tackle.

The suspension means Hobson will lose his ever-present record in 2000, starting with Sunday's trip to title-chasing Wigan.