John Bateman’s reported Wigan Warriors exit to “speed up” after England’s defeat to Samoa

There’s been a lot of talk around John Bateman recently.

The Wigan Warriors star was tipped by Australian press months back to return to the NRL in 2023, these rumours cooled off over the fee Wigan set for the star backrower.

However, this month Wests Tigers have reignited their interest and according to the Daily Telegraph are prepared to pay the $250,000 price to get Bateman through the door.

This all happened whilst John Bateman was playing for England in the Rugby League World Cup and when asked about it on England duty, he said that the time to talk about his future would come after the tournament.

Following England’s exit from the World Cup on Saturday, it is expected that his supposed move to the Tigers is set to speed up.

That’s the view of David Riccio of the Daily Telegraph speaking on SEN Radio.

He said: “With John Bateman, I expect that it will gain traction now that England are out of the World Cup.

“The Tigers will push ahead with negotiations and pay that transfer fee to get Bateman to the Tigers.

“This will speed up.”

Bateman previously played in the NRL for the Canberra Raiders prior to a return to Super League with Wigan in 2021.

However, after two years he could return down under with the Tigers after scoring in England’s World Cup semi-final defeat to Samoa.

It’s a situation many fans will be keeping an eye on.