CALLUM Bustin will miss the first month of the Championship season with ligament damage.

The Bulls are likely to be without the rampaging London-born forward until the start of March.

But the diagnosis of the injury he suffered against Dewsbury is not as serious as was first feared.

Coach John Kear said: “Our physio is going to his house at the minute because he can’t drive. He’s obviously got the ligament damage.

“But it’s not broken so we’re looking more at a four to six-week injury.

“It’s obviously not good because he’s injured but the prognosis is better. Everybody thought it was a broken leg, which is a 12-week job, so the maximum now will be half the time of that.”

Kear is already down one forward as Ross Peltier recovers from the shoulder surgery he had at Christmas. Ironically that followed an injury on the training ground in a collision with Bustin.

Kear added: “That’s the reason we had such a big squad.

“It’s been demonstrated in the first three games against Championship opposition that it’s going to be more physical. Obviously the greater the physicality, the greater the risk of injury.

“We’ve got Steve Crossley going to play at the weekend in his first game back. And he’ll play more minutes against Toronto if he comes through that okay.

“That’s a big bonus. He’s not only a very good middle-unit player, he’s an outstanding leader as well as our captain.”

Trae O’Sullivan will not be involved in the Yorkshire Cup final at Batley on Sunday but could play in the final friendly against Toronto. Kear views the former Cougar forward as a work in progress.

He said: “He’s a project. We didn’t take him on as the finished article – we see him as somebody with potential who we can hopefully develop and see how that comes along.

“Obviously his second game wasn’t as good as his first one. We want to look for some consistency and he’ll get that opportunity, if not in the first team then certainly in the reserve side.

"He's a big lad but you have to be a smart lad as well and a well-conditioned athlete. That's what we are trying to work on."