It’s fair to say John Bateman and his return to Super League has got the world of rugby league talking. The back rower is set to join up with Warrington Wolves for the final few months of the season on loan from Wests Tigers.
The talk is that he will return to Wests at the end of the season in order to see out his contract with the NRL side, which runs until the end of next year. However, after struggling for form Down Under, he will be allowed to join up with Sam Burgess’ side as they push to get their hands on the Grand Final trophy for the first time.
The deal hasn’t been announced just yet, with Bateman yet to be seen at the Halliwell Jones Stadium. However, while Warrington fans are excited about the possibility of landing the England international, questions are being asked from the NRL end about the move, why its happening and why the 30-year-old has fallen short of expectations on his second stint in Australia.
John Bateman lit up the sport’s premier competition during his spell with Canberra Raiders, but he hasn’t been able to hit those heights with Wests and that’s the reason why the Tigers are willing to offload him temporarily, it seems, much to the bewilderment of some of the league’s pundits.
Speaking on Fox League, Braith Anasta outlined his confusion to a panel that included Gorden Tallis and journalists Paul Crawley and Dean Ritchie.
“Has he been pushed here? Or has he asked to leave?” Anasta said on air about John Bateman. “It makes no sense whatsoever.”
Crawley, who is a regular on Fox League, couldn’t find any sense in the deal either, with the reporter questioning Wests’ judgement.
“Why would the club allow a player to leave at this stage of the season? Regardless of where you are, even if it saves you a bit of salary cap, you’ve got the credibility of your own club,” he said.
“He’s going overseas, there’s talk he’ll come back next year, there’s been talk all year that Bateman hasn’t been happy at the Wests Tigers and that’s clear in his form on the field. I kind of think the Tigers have a little bit to answer to.
“Other clubs were chasing Bateman but he goes to the Wests Tigers because they think he can play. He doesn’t perform there and we’ve seen it with Isaiah Papali’i, he goes from Parramatta where he’s killing to the Tigers and suddenly they don’t want him. Are they the problem or is the club the problem?”
Former Australia and Queensland representative Tallis, laid the blame for his failed second stint at Bateman’s door, though.
“When you’re a 31-years-old, you’ve played the amount of footy he has, I think Bateman has to take a bit of responsibility (for his form),” Tallis said. “We all watched how he played at the Raiders, he was arguably one of the best back rowers in the comp.
“He left to go to England and when he came back you would think he would play to that standard. If I’m honest I don’t think he’s played to his standard.”
