2018 in review - Luke Bateman

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greeneyed
Don Furner
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2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by greeneyed »

2018 in review - Luke Bateman

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This is the eighteenth instalment of 2018 in review. As usual, now the Raiders' season is done, we are reviewing all 25 players who pulled on a green jersey in first grade in 2018. So far, we've looked at Jack Wighton, Nick Cotric, Jarrod Croker, Joey Leilua, Jordan Rapana, Blake Austin, Aidan Sezer, Sam Williams, Junior Paulo, Sia Soliola, Josh Hodgson, Siliva Havili, Shannon Boyd, Dunamis Lui, Joe Tapine, Elliott Whitehead and Josh Papalii.

Luke Bateman made 22 appearances for the Raiders in 2018 from a possible, starting at lock in five games early in the season. However, Josh Papalii made that role his own after Round 7 and for the most part, Bateman was injected into games from the interchange bench. He missed two games in Rounds 16 and 17 after undergoing minor knee surgery - which was originally expected to keep him on the sidelines for a month.

Bateman has been highly regarded as an emerging player by many good judges - and coach Ricky Stuart has often praised him for his attitude and dedication to his preparation. Bateman's minutes on field are relatively low (41, slightly up on 2017), compared to most other NRL forwards, so it is difficult to gauge his contributions statistically. However, I think it is fair to say that he doesn't offer a lot of punch off the bench in attack. He was towards the bottom of the list for average runs and metres gained amongst the Raiders forwards. Counterparts at other clubs who averaged similar minutes, outpointed him in this department. He recorded no try involvements, no line breaks and just 10 tackle breaks and one offload this year. On the whole, his attacking record in 2018 was very similar to 2017.

Bateman's relative strength is his defence. He lifted his tackle efficiency to a very respectable 91 per cent, with only Shannon Boyd recording a better rate amongst the Raiders forwards. He also lifted his average tackles per match (from 23 to 26), ranking fifth amongst Canberra's forwards. His try causes, line break causes and error counts were relatively low - though penalties conceded rose a little this year.

I rated him an average of 5.7/10 through the year. I only rated him a 7 twice, the Round 5 win over the Bulldogs and the Round 6 win over the Eels. His highest tally for running metres gained came in the Round 3 loss to the Warriors (124 metres and 47 post contact metres) - and he broke the 100 metre mark in just one other game (Round 5). His highest tackle count (50) was registered in the Round 14 loss to the Panthers.





Bateman is no doubt a player who makes the most of his talent through old fashioned hard work. But there is some new blood coming into the club in the forward pack, in the shape of John Bateman and Ryan Sutton, while there are a number of young guns on the rise - like Emre Guler, Jack Murchie and Corey Horsburgh. Players like Liam Knight will also be mounting a challenge for a place in the top 17. Luke Bateman is going to need to continue to lift in 2019 if he's to stave off the challengers.

How did you rate Luke Bateman's 2018? Tell us below.

Luke Bateman's 2018: 5.5/10

2018 Statistics: (Stats from Fox Sports Lab)
Games: 22
Average minutes: 41.4
Points: 0
Tries: 0
Try assists: 0
Try contributions: 0
Total try involvements: 0
Total kicks: 0
Kick metres: 0m
Total runs: 166
All run metres: 1362
Average metres per carry: 8.2m
Average metres per game: 61m
Tackle breaks: 10
Offloads: 1
Line breaks: 0
Line break assists: 0
Tackles: 567
Average tackles per game: 25.8
1 on 1 tackles: 28
Missed tackles: 22
Average missed tackles per game: 1
Tackle efficiency: 91 per cent
Try causes: 3
Line break causes: 1
Errors: 5
Penalties conceded: 10
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grizzly29
Gerry De La Cruz
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by grizzly29 »

Absolutely useless, there is no way if he left the raiders, any other club would sign him. Not a first grade player, way too small to be an efficient forward, consistently gives away penalties and makes no meters.
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Roger Kenworthy
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by Roger Kenworthy »

Those defensive stats are great. I think he offers a bit more than Lui off the bench talent wise, he's just needs to get a bit smarter with ball in hand as he isn't big enough to run kamikaze.
edwahu

Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by edwahu »

3/10

He tries hard but he is far too limited in his skill set for first grade and he doesn't look to have the ability to add much to it after 70 games of the same stuff. With the players coming in I don't think he will feature much.
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Matt
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by Matt »

Like Lui, he is a middle of the road middle forward putting out middle of the road production. TBH, good teams only have 1 of these 2 guys in their 17, and they play 25mins max.

Id say 5/10.
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gangrenous
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by gangrenous »

Middle of the road? Hope you don’t drive often Matt.
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boydy80
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by boydy80 »

Just. Bog. Average.
Long time creeper....... First time poster
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-PJ-
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by -PJ- »

This bloke has achieved more than I ever did/will/could and for that alone...respect.

But let's not diddle around here.

He's not real flash....
3rd Battalion Royal Australian Regiment..Old Faithful
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Green eyed Mick
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by Green eyed Mick »

6/10. Agree with Matt. If he has a place in the 17 it is coming on with 15-20 to go to work his tail off.
RedRaider
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by RedRaider »

There are more gifted players coming through at the Raiders. They are not ready in 2018 but by close of 2019 they will be. He has a role to play as a defensive workhorse. I think he could be an effective support player receiving offloads because he is fit and energetic. Sticky doesn't seem to use that close support style. 5/10.
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Northern Raider
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by Northern Raider »

I thought Bateman was pretty solid in 2018. Still don't think he's part of our top 17.
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Rick
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Re: 2018 in review - Luke Bateman

Post by Rick »

Better this year than last but I think that’s because we saw less of him.




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