The 19-year-old Bulls and England forward, who is nursing a shoulder injury which could yet require reconstructive surgery that would rule him out of the World Cup this autumn, became needlessly involved in a melee involving several players in the 32nd minute.

The incident was in keeping with a chaotic but low-quality first half which saw Wakefield establish a 6-0 lead through Damien Blanch's second-minute try and a penalty from Brad Drew.

But the Wildcats surrendered meekly after the break, allowing Bradford to hit back with four tries through Paul Deacon, Terry Newton, Ben Jeffries and Iestyn Harris.

It was the worst possible way for John Kear's men to prepare for next Sunday's Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull at the Keepmoat Stadium.

Wakefield rested their talismanic scrum-half Danny Brough ahead of their date in Doncaster but Drew initially dovetailed well alongside Jamie Rooney at half-back in the first half.

Indeed, the visitors led inside the second minute when Danny Sculthorpe sent a teasing grubber kick into the right-hand corner and Blanch reacted quickest to race forward and ground the ball.

Drew failed to convert the score but Wakefield began to build up a head of steam as the half progressed.

However, an encounter which began so promisingly gradually descended into chaos as referee Phil Bentham left the home supporters bitterly frustrated with his officiating.

The Bradford players did little to set their supporters at ease, however, as a steady stream of misplaced and undercooked passes prevented them from building any real momentum in the opening period.

That the Bulls failed to create any genuine try-scoring opportunities said everything about their first-half malaise.

And after Drew's penalty put Wakefield further ahead, Burgess found himself in the sin-bin after getting involved in a scrap initially sparked by Matt Petersen squaring up to Newton in the 32nd minute.

However, with Burgess back on shortly after the restart, Bradford rediscovered their fire and in the 49th minute a piece of delightful footwork allowed Deacon to weave his way over the line from close range.

Three minutes later Newton burrowed his way over from acting half and on the hour mark former Wakefield stand-off Jeffries scampered clear for Bradford's third.

Deacon converted all three to send his side 18-6 ahead and although Wakefield hit back soon after for an unconverted try from Blanch in the right corner, a delicate offload from prop Joe Vagana ushered Harris over from 10 metres out.

Deacon once again added the extras to seal an ultimately handsome victory and encourage hopes of securing a coveted play-off berth – possibly at faltering Wakefield's expense.

Speaking after the game, Coach Kear said he needed to rally his troops ahead of their Carnegie Challenge Cup semi-final against Hull next weekend.

He said: "We will prepare in a very positive manner and try to be buoyant and upbeat.

"It's a little difficult at the minute of course because we've just copped our fourth successive loss.

"We've got to quickly turn it around so that we give a quality performance at Doncaster next week."

Bradford: Platt, Evans, Sykes, Nero, Tadulala, Jeffries, Deacon, Vagana, Harris, Lynch, Solomona, Finnigan, Langley. Replacements: Newton, Cook, Burgess, Kopczak.

Wakefield: Reilly, Blanch, Demetriou, Gleeson, Petersen, Rooney, Drew, Wilkes, Obst, Moore, Golden, Ferres, Sculthorpe. Replacements: MacGillivray, Henderson, Bibey, Ferguson.

Referee: P Bentham (Warrington).

Attendance: 9,429.