Joe Batchelor opens up on contract negotiations with St Helens but says he’s currently focused on England

Things couldn’t get much better for Joe Batchelor.

The St Helens backrow has defied the odds to achieve glory with St Helens.

Now a back-to-back Grand Final winner with the Saints, he played a vital role in getting the Champions back to Old Trafford with a double over Salford Red Devils in the semi-final.

On the back of that, Batchelor earnt a place in Shaun Wane’s England squad and tomorrow is set for his test debut against Greece alongside fellow test debutant Kai Pearce-Paul as Wane again rotates but hopes to sustain his 100% record within the group.

As if that wasn’t good enough for Batchelor, he recently signed a deserved new deal with St Helens as they prepare for a new era under Paul Wellens that they hope will be the same as the last era under Kristian Woolf.

Batchelor revealed this week that for him once contract talks started with the Champions, it was a “formality.”

“I’m really happy at St Helens,” he said, “Once we started talking about contracts it was more of a formality than anything else.”

That said, his focus is on England right now. Only at the end of the tournament will he switch gears and focus on St Helens’ title defence.

He said: “When I got back to St Helens I’m going to look forward it but my focus is on this.”