Bulls centre Michael Platt reckons team-mate John Bateman will soon have opponents running scared.

The 17-year-old only started full-time training in October but has already made a lasting impression on colleagues and coaches alike.

Platt caught a glimpse of his prodigious skills up close in Bradford’s pre-season opener against Halifax and is hoping for a repeat performance at Dewsbury Rams tomorrow (3pm), when Bateman is set for a second senior outing.

“We’ve got some young players in the squad who you can see are going to be quality,” said Platt.

“John’s one of them and I was outside him so I got to see him in action as close up as anyone could. It was a frightening prospect.

“I didn’t realise how good he would be because you don’t get to properly gauge that in training. Most of what you do isn’t tackle-based, so although you get an idea of a player’s skills, you can’t see how they adapt to an actual game situation.

“It’s a long time since I came off the field thinking ‘how good is this kid going to be?’ But I did with him.”

Courted by Super League rivals Leeds, Huddersfield and Warrington before signing his first professional contract in June, Bateman this week earned a call-up to the latest England Academy squad.

And Platt believes he has the potential to become a future Test star, comparing the back-rower’s skill-set to that of former Bulls ace David Solomona.

“It was really impressive,” said Platt. “You get your second rows who look to take the ball in, the wide-running ones and then your ball-playing ones. He’s got a bit of all that.

“Sol was like that and John did the same thing. Being a centre it’s great to be playing outside someone like that because you know you’ll see plenty of the ball.”