England international John Bateman has opened up on the spider bite that almost saw him lose a leg. The North Queensland Cowboys back-rower spent four nights in a Perth hospital back in April after being bitten by a spider while away with the team.
The Cowboys took on South Sydney Rabbitohs in an NRL game at the Optus Stadium in Western Australia, but Bateman missed the game after being hospitalised. He took to social media at the time to explain his absence and post some pictures from hospital bed.
However, he has now gone into depth about just how serious the bite was.
“I think it was on the field, and it bit me on my leg. I wasn’t too sure what it was, I’ve never had to worry about that before,” Bateman said in an interview with NRL.com.
“I had a rough sleep on Wednesday night, and I literally got rushed to hospital on Thursday morning.
“It was pretty bad. I was just hot and cold, and my leg from above my knee to beneath my ankle went all red, so I was pretty worried.
“But when I got into the hospital, I just said to the doctor, ‘just make sure I’m ready for the game on Saturday’.
“Then on the Friday morning he came back in, because they had taken bloods, and he said, ‘mate, there is no chance of you playing, we’re just looking to save your leg’.”
John Bateman loving life in NRL with North Queensland Cowboys
Bateman has been with the Cowboys since the start of the season, joining the club after spending two seasons with Wests Tigers. That game in Perth was the first Bateman sat out of this season, and while he has missed action with a groin injury of late, the back-rower has still made 13 appearances in total this season.
It’s fair to say Bateman is enjoying life under Todd Payten then.
“Todd is pretty straight down the line like some of the other coaches I’ve had – Shaun Wane, Wayne Bennett, and Ricky Stuart. He tells you how it is so you know where you stand and I like that,” Bateman added.
“I’d say Townsville as a whole is a working-class place, which is pretty similar to where I am from, and the boys are good lads and a hardworking bunch pretty similar to myself.”
