Bateman confirms he’s heading back to Wigan Warriors in 2021

[-PJ-]

He still may decide to stay with us you know..

It's a possibility..

[GMGT]

Mal Meninga hoping Gold Coast Titans will beat Canterbury Bulldogs to signature of Canberra Raiders star forward John Bateman

Canberra legend Mal Meninga has set his sights on poaching Raiders star John Bateman as the Gold Coast Titans target a replacement for Jai Arrow.

“We would certainly be interested in him. We need a marquee player, to be honest with you.If he’s on the market and available, we will certainly be looking at him. He fits perfectly with (Arrow leaving), absolutely,” Meninga said.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 2461cf10f8

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 223a84d035

As someone said earlier... Shannon Boyd. He was on the cusp of origin at the raiders and he has fallen off the face of the NRL world since he left.

[GMGT]

He still may decide to stay with us you know..

It's a possibility..

I don't have any doubt that he will stay, IF the price is right.

[-TW-]

He still may decide to stay with us you know..

It's a possibility..

I mean.. his current suitors finished 12th, 15th and 16th last year

I know he says about earning for his daughters future, but you'd think a potential premiership bonus would be an incentive too

Sent from my ELE-L29 using Tapatalk

[zim]

He still may decide to stay with us you know..

It's a possibility..

That's settled it for me. Don't let me down PJ!

[Seiffert82]

This is playing out almost exactly like the Leilua situation.

It's pretty clear Sticky wants him to stay, but I don't think the club will be bending over backwards to retain him at all costs.

[gangrenous]

This is playing out almost exactly like the Leilua situation.

It's pretty clear Sticky wants him to stay

These two lines don’t seem consistent together

[irvste]

If you had an employee that you knew could decide at any time to leave.. to be with his daughter no less

Would you break the bank to keep him or do what is viable and hope he stays and make sure you are investing in others you definitely want to keep and aren't as a high a risk of just up and leaving

Love what jb brings but ive always considered him to be temporary based on his family situation.. More temporary than others because of that

I think the raiders are handling this storm pretty well really.. Managers are blight on the game as others have said

And trying to balance money vs chance of a premiership vs being with my daughter.. That would do my head in given the money side is also for my daughter.. Thats not something that would be easy to juggle

So I'm not going to judge jb either way im just looking forward to seeing the boys play again and hopefully the noise goes away.. Besides we will be too busy complaining about inconsistent 6 again calls before we know it to be too worried about this

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk

[Seiffert82]

This is playing out almost exactly like the Leilua situation.

It's pretty clear Sticky wants him to stay

These two lines don’t seem consistent together

Why is that? Stuart wanted Leilua to stay too.

Unfortunately both players wanted more money than the club was prepared to spend. Both players were given the opportunity to speak with other clubs before their contract with us expired. Leilua walked and Bateman is more than likely to follow him.

We moved on from Leilua (who was arguably the best centre in the comp when fit) and we'll do the same with Bateman.

[GMGT]

This is playing out almost exactly like the Leilua situation.

It's pretty clear Sticky wants him to stay

These two lines don’t seem consistent together

Why is that? Stuart wanted Leilua to stay too.

Unfortunately both players wanted more money than the club was prepared to spend. Both players were given the opportunity to speak with other clubs before their contract with us expired. Leilua walked and Bateman is more than likely to follow him.

We moved on from Leilua (who was arguably the best centre in the comp when fit) and we'll do the same with Bateman.

Ricky wanted Leilua to stay? That's just not true, Ricky told Leilua that he is not good enough for the team.

[IBG]

Yeah sorry Seiffert but Sticky didn't want Leilua to stay. Pretty sure he was over him especially after he bombed the potentially match winning try in the GF. Leilua was never as vocal about wanting a new deal as Bateman is now. They easily could've kept Leilua for this year.

[julian87]

Good on Canterbury for trying to improve but I don’t see it happening. They’re generally tough enough as it is. They defend and make meters alright. But they can’t score.

They’ve simply got the worst spine and backline we’ve probably ever seen in the the NRL era. No amount of McCulloughs, Thompsons and Batemans are going to turn that around and help them score points. Paying 2 new forwards 1.6 or so million for them will probably turn out disastrous imo.

[TongueFTW]

Good on Canterbury for trying to improve but I don’t see it happening. They’re generally tough enough as it is. They defend and make meters alright. But they can’t score.

They’ve simply got the worst spine and backline we’ve probably ever seen in the the NRL era. No amount of McCulloughs, Thompsons and Batemans are going to turn that around and help them score points. Paying 2 new forwards 1.6 or so million for them will probably turn out disastrous imo.

Recruiting McCullogh tells you everything you need to know. Exactly the type of player they don’t need.

I feel like the forum instantly turns on a player once there is a sniff of them leaving. Make no mistake - Bateman was pivotal in our run to the GF last year, and some of those closer games, we don’t win if he isn’t there. Let’s not forget, we were 0-4 with him missing last year - I am not saying it was all due to him, but there is no doubt at all, he makes a big difference to this team.

[Northern Raider]

Mal Meninga hoping Gold Coast Titans will beat Canterbury Bulldogs to signature of Canberra Raiders star forward John Bateman

Canberra legend Mal Meninga has set his sights on poaching Raiders star John Bateman as the Gold Coast Titans target a replacement for Jai Arrow.

“We would certainly be interested in him. We need a marquee player, to be honest with you.If he’s on the market and available, we will certainly be looking at him. He fits perfectly with (Arrow leaving), absolutely,” Meninga said.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 2461cf10f8

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 223a84d035

As someone said earlier... Shannon Boyd. He was on the cusp of origin at the raiders and he has fallen off the face of the NRL world since he left.

Boyd, Proctor, Cartwright, Wallace, James all on $600k-$700k contracts. The amount of money Titans invest on forwards is incredible.

[Timbo]

If Bateman signs for the Titans he might as well ink the contract in the second division back home for the one following it. They are career suicide.

[Mickey_Raider]

Remember in the dark old days of say 2013-2014 where we would have to pay a "rubbish team" tax on top of the market rate in order to lure anyone to play for us?

The roles are now reversed - the Dogs, Dragons, Titans etc will be the ones paying the tax if they want John Bateman.

On the flip side, because of what we have built, I would guess that we wouldn't need to match the above offers even with their added tax; only get close enough whereby the greater prospect of success carries us over the line.

[yurithe1]

Mal Meninga hoping Gold Coast Titans will beat Canterbury Bulldogs to signature of Canberra Raiders star forward John Bateman

Canberra legend Mal Meninga has set his sights on poaching Raiders star John Bateman as the Gold Coast Titans target a replacement for Jai Arrow.

“We would certainly be interested in him. We need a marquee player, to be honest with you.If he’s on the market and available, we will certainly be looking at him. He fits perfectly with (Arrow leaving), absolutely,” Meninga said.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 2461cf10f8

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 223a84d035

As someone said earlier... Shannon Boyd. He was on the cusp of origin at the raiders and he has fallen off the face of the NRL world since he left.

I see Boyd is still playing, but named at 17 for this weekend. There's money well spent.

Bateman does a lot of good things, but if I was going to make changes to my roster to accommodate one of the Englishmen, it would be for Hodgson. Next cab off the rank would be Whitehead. Williams is still an unknown at this level against quality opposition and Sutton hasn't even made the squad of 21 for this weekend. Wonder what sort of money he is on.

Anyway, come 2022, Sia and Jordan might not even be playing. There's some money freed up right there.

[SeeBee101]

Mal Meninga hoping Gold Coast Titans will beat Canterbury Bulldogs to signature of Canberra Raiders star forward John Bateman

Canberra legend Mal Meninga has set his sights on poaching Raiders star John Bateman as the Gold Coast Titans target a replacement for Jai Arrow.

“We would certainly be interested in him. We need a marquee player, to be honest with you.If he’s on the market and available, we will certainly be looking at him. He fits perfectly with (Arrow leaving), absolutely,” Meninga said.

Read more: https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport ... 2461cf10f8

https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nrl-pr ... 223a84d035

As someone said earlier... Shannon Boyd. He was on the cusp of origin at the raiders and he has fallen off the face of the NRL world since he left.

I see Boyd is still playing, but named at 17 for this weekend. There's money well spent.

Bateman does a lot of good things, but if I was going to make changes to my roster to accommodate one of the Englishmen, it would be for Hodgson. Next cab off the rank would be Whitehead. Williams is still an unknown at this level against quality opposition and Sutton hasn't even made the squad of 21 for this weekend. Wonder what sort of money he is on.

Anyway, come 2022, Sia and Jordan might not even be playing. There's some money freed up right there.

I agree, Sia and Rapa aren't signed for next season. We have decent replacements in the wings for both. Surely between Sia and Rapa we have the funds to increase Batemans offer to 750k ish

[sprintman]

Not sure Sutton has a future here. Hasn’t quite made the grade...

[greeneyed]

Not sure Sutton has a future here. Hasn’t quite made the grade...

I don't get it, he was showing some great potential in the middle of last year.

[GreenMachine]

I honestly believe if the club want him bad enough, they can keep him.
I wouldn't be spending above $700K to keep him. That would be the maximum in my opinion.
If he's unhappy, let him go and see what shakes out of the Bronco's pile given how heavy they have invested in forwards recently...

[Northern Raider]

We need to keep some wriggle room in our cap right now for upcoming seasons in case Williams turns out to be a gun. Upgrading him longer term would then be a priority. We will have a pretty good idea on that in the next few months.

[zim]

Who's in the broncos pile? Alex Glenn, David Fifita or TPJ yeah?
Glenn will be retiring soon.
Fifita will be out of our price range.
TPJ... to me he's just not a second rower. Has defensive problems. He's also always suspended.

[sprintman]

Not sure Sutton has a future here. Hasn’t quite made the grade...

I don't get it, he was showing some great potential in the middle of last year.

I remember he had a fairly serious injury before joining us. Could also be as simple as homesickness

[edwahu]

Who's in the broncos pile? Alex Glenn, David Fifita or TPJ yeah?
Glenn will be retiring soon.
Fifita will be out of our price range.
TPJ... to me he's just not a second rower. Has defensive problems. He's also always suspended.

The two young middles Flegler and Carrigan look good. Tapine could stay on the edge and we chase one of them.

TPJ could be an option but he is a big gamble as a player.

[Love4Noa]

The reality of this is that John Bateman came to Australia for two reasons.

1) To test himself, as all the top quality Englishmen want to do. And he has done this. He knows he can compete.
2) Money. To secure a future for himself and his daughter.

He didn't bring his daughter out here. It is clear his base remains in England, and his career with the Raiders is only temporary. He isn't a great clubman and won't be here long term. Anyone with any suggestion otherwise is misguided based on the facts currently available.

Increase Bateman, and you need to increase someone like Whitehead who is seriously underrated as a talent. The money for a $10m salary cap simply isn't there for a second rower/lock to be taking home upwards of 8-10 percent of that.

John Bateman is a good player. He is tenacious and he brings an x factor to the team. He isn't a key player in a key position. He's a good player in a position where there are TENS AND TENS of NRL quality players available.

I think he's starting to realise this - and may turn around and either stay loyal to the club that facilitated his move, or he can move on. Like Don said - he'll drive him somewhere if he can find a club. And I'll help him pack his bags.

Don't make him out to be better than he is. Wighton moving to 5/8 was the reason for the success. Ricky is the reason for the culture change. Bateman was in the right place at the right time.

[simo]

i actually think we already have one of the best bateman replacements in hudson young.

[GreenMachine]

Who's in the broncos pile? Alex Glenn, David Fifita or TPJ yeah?
Glenn will be retiring soon.
Fifita will be out of our price range.
TPJ... to me he's just not a second rower. Has defensive problems. He's also always suspended.

The two young middles Flegler and Carrigan look good. Tapine could stay on the edge and we chase one of them.

TPJ could be an option but he is a big gamble as a player.

Yes, they’re the two I had in mind.

TPJ is a gamble, but has potential if he stays on track.

The Broncos can’t keep them all, particularly if they pay out big to Fafita.

My point is, I wouldn’t lose sleep if we lost Bateman because some low tier club offered him marquee money....

[Seiffert82]

This is playing out almost exactly like the Leilua situation.

It's pretty clear Sticky wants him to stay

These two lines don’t seem consistent together

Why is that? Stuart wanted Leilua to stay too.

Unfortunately both players wanted more money than the club was prepared to spend. Both players were given the opportunity to speak with other clubs before their contract with us expired. Leilua walked and Bateman is more than likely to follow him.

We moved on from Leilua (who was arguably the best centre in the comp when fit) and we'll do the same with Bateman.

Ricky wanted Leilua to stay? That's just not true, Ricky told Leilua that he is not good enough for the team.

Yes he did. At the same point of the process, when Leilua asked for an extension and permission to test the market 2 years before his contract expired, Stuart wanted him to stay.

It went a bit pear shaped late in the season when Leilua got seriously injured and was struggling to come back in shape before the finals.

I think it was absolutely fair to say Stuart wanted to retain him if the attitude was good and the price was right. It was only when it was clear Leilua was wanting to move on that the club had to reach out and take a punt on Scott.

[Wiki Special]

Not sure Sutton has a future here. Hasn’t quite made the grade...

I don't get it, he was showing some great potential in the middle of last year.

I agree with Greeneyed. I'm still baffled Lui was selected ahead of him during the Finals last year.

[julian87]

Sutton just really really struggled to come on as a bench player and offer impact. Was pretty good for the stretch where he started, I think he even wore the 13 for 4/5 weeks didn't he? He's definitely a pretty important squad member for the time being given the forwards we've just let go though.

Is he injured at the moment?

[BadnMean]

If Bateman signs for the Titans he might as well ink the contract in the second division back home for the one following it. They are career suicide.

From his point of view though- at 26-27 if he gets the 4 years on big money he's after, then he's maximised his time here and then goes home to his family like he always planned. Squeezes another few years out in SL and gets a holiday in Tenerife each year for the rest of his life.

I'd like to see him play for us but from his point of view, he's creating a win-win; either he gets mad money and enjoys if since he was always planning to return home at some point or he stays at the Raiders and has success, knowing he got maximum dollar possible from the club.

In one scenario he's rich and maximised his prime contract years, in the other he's very well off + succesful and the fans forget it all once he plays well as it is just scallywag ol' JB.

[BadnMean]

I agree with Greeneyed. I'm still baffled Lui was selected ahead of him during the Finals last year.

Lui was not even playing well in much of that back end of the season. Sutton seems to be on the Ricky scrapheap. He may have made the judgement- not good enough to start, not suited to impact from the bench.

At their best, it was roughly a tie between Lui and Sutton last year- pretty solid contributions in a stretch of games. Both have a dropped ball in their game. Lui later added a maddening overestimation of his stripping prowess.

[Raiders666]

Didn't Sutton extend at the end of last year?

[Green Blogger]

This is playing out almost exactly like the Leilua situation.

It's pretty clear Sticky wants him to stay

These two lines don’t seem consistent together

Why is that? Stuart wanted Leilua to stay too.

Unfortunately both players wanted more money than the club was prepared to spend. Both players were given the opportunity to speak with other clubs before their contract with us expired. Leilua walked and Bateman is more than likely to follow him.

We moved on from Leilua (who was arguably the best centre in the comp when fit) and we'll do the same with Bateman.

Ricky wanted Leilua to stay? That's just not true, Ricky told Leilua that he is not good enough for the team.

Yes he did. At the same point of the process, when Leilua asked for an extension and permission to test the market 2 years before his contract expired, Stuart wanted him to stay.

It went a bit pear shaped late in the season when Leilua got seriously injured and was struggling to come back in shape before the finals.

I think it was absolutely fair to say Stuart wanted to retain him if the attitude was good and the price was right. It was only when it was clear Leilua was wanting to move on that the club had to reach out and take a punt on Scott.

Ricky started looking for options after Leilua's performance late last year. The second that Ricky knew he could get Curtis Scott, Leilua was on the outer. Then after being given an extended holiday for his wedding, he returned to training significantly overweight. We chased Scott because we did not want Leilua, not as a result of BJ wanting to leave.