Former Bull Ryan Hudson failed in his bid to have his two-year suspension for taking the anabolic steroid stanozolol reduced at an RFL appeal hearing in Leeds last night.

Hudson, who was sacked by the Bulls without having appeared for the club

shortly after his suspension on March 9, will now be banned from playing until Super League XII.

His solicitor, Richard Cramer, said: "He is naturally disappointed. He is still fairly upbeat about where he wants to go but we are going to wait now to see the reasons for the decision."

A new three-man RFL advisory panel dismissed the appeal and ordered him to pay a further £175 in costs, in addition to the £293 imposed at the original hearing.

Hudson pleaded guilty to the offence at an RFL

tribunal last month but claimed he had unknowingly taking the substance in a dietary supplement while on holiday in Australia before linking up with the Bulls for pre-season training.

However, an RFL tribunal rejected his appeal for leniency, imposing what it described as a "mandatory two-year ban". Last night the decision to impose that ban was upheld.

Hudson's appeal was believed to be based on the apparent inconsistency of the sentence after London wing Dom Peters had previously received a one-year ban for the same offence.

Twenty five-year-old Hudson was tested in December, just days after joining the Bulls on a

three-year, £255,000

contract from relegated Castleford Tigers. He was suspended without pay by the Bulls on January 20 when the club received news of his positive test and his two-year suspension has been backdated to that date.