Watch: John Bateman bombs certain try on NRL debut

After weeks of waiting John Bateman made his second NRL debut today.

The England and Great Britain international spent two seasons with the Canberra Raiders back in 2019 and 2020 helping them reach the 2019 Grand Final in a season he was named Dally M Back-Rower of the year.

After this he returned to Wigan Warriors where he had previously won the Super League title twice playing in four Grand Finals during his time at the DW Stadium.

His second stint at Wigan wasn’t as fruitful but did see the Warriors win the Challenge Cup in 2022.

However, he is now returning to the NRL with Wests Tigers who have paid a fee to procure his services for 2023.

That said his debut was delayed by weeks due to his delayed arrival in Australia.

This was due to visa issues and police checks which saw his return to the country delayed.

Of course, after his arrival it took the club time to get him up to speed.

There were also rumours of an ankle injury.

However, today he finally made his debut against the Canterbury Bulldogs and nearly made an instant impact as he came up with a quintessential John Bateman play.

He crabbed back inside from the right edge and then kicked ahead, chasing the ball leaving him with one thing to do to score: ground the ball.

But just like Brad Dwyer for Hull FC on Friday night, Bateman fumbled it and the try went begging and the Tigers went on to lose 26-22.

You can watch the moment here.