John Bateman Archives

[batboy]

James Grahame speaks glowingly about him.

Graham was his captain - but if a difference….

 

[Curaeus]

Danny Weidler…Nine News.
Take his stuff with a grain of salt. Talks about Bateman being a divisive character best steered clear of. Coming from DW, the self appointed fluffer and cheer leader for Sonny Bill who walked out on his BullDogs teammates - he’s hardly a sound judge of character. By the way, saw SBW got dropped last night. Not going to be critical, anyone who steps into the ring has big balls, but Weidler must be beside himself today. Inconsolable.

Even Buzz Rothfield seems to have had a poor opinion of Weidler. Guess everyone gets something right sometimes!

 

[earl]

Taking the Bate

Wests Tigers are well aware of supposed issues John Bateman has with Jackson Hastings. That they’d continue to pursue Bateman anyway is a sign that even though they have made changes, the organisation still has a long way to go.

Their courtship of the former Canberra second-rower smacks of desperation to land a “star” signing.
We’ve been told Bateman has had his run-ins not just with Hastings but with other players.

He is a vocal character who is not afraid to let coaches know his opinion. Hastings is believed to have no ill will towards Bateman, but it seems Bateman has a problem with Hastings.

Hastings was one of the Tigers’ best players last season. His engagement with fans was without peer. He deserves the club’s respect.

Bateman was offered to the Knights and others some time back. After doing their homework on him, all decided to pass.

(Danny Weidler)

100% correct from a scumbo journo.

 

[jirskyr]

High school stuff written here.

It's stupidity approaching farce to suggest that Tigers haven't learned XYZ as an organisation because they choose to pursue a player who maybe doesn't like another player currently employed.

That would be like not pursuing James Tedesco because he doesn't like Alex Twal, even though Twal is a respectable footballer and they aren't necessarily even competing for the same position.

Don't anyone forget that Jackson Hastings himself was basically exiled to England because he had some strongly negative relationships with his colleagues, and over time, has apparently made great strides in overcoming those types of issues.

Maybe a vocal and opinionated player is exactly what Tigers need, not the pussyfoots who caved in for 60 and 70 points at times in 2022.

I'll leave it up to Tim Sheens to figure out, because whatever you think about him as a tactician, he has certainly been around long enough to be able to judge character and understand the kinds of players a winning team needs.

Dunny Weedler is such a biased and agenda-driven piece of dirt anyway, I really wish you guys wouldn't post his stuff (I never read it otherwise) and I also wish I didn't feel the compulsion to rise to the bait.

 

[Cobarcats]

100% correct from a scumbo journo.

“tension” between the two players who haven’t previously got on well?
Sounds like Bateman and Jacko have "Red" personalities"
They like to chat and direct traffic both on and off the field.
Sheens has to use the "I'm in Charge" method of coaching with these two because there can't be too many cooks.
Surely they could work it out with a bit of Ronnie Palmer magic dust.

 

[earl]

@Cobarcats - I agree that the idea of those two players not getting along is a stupid story with no relevance at all.

The rest of that comment was spot on. No one is willing to put big money into Bateman except for Sheens.

You'd think we'd learn that when you waste big money on players it screws us over for a long time. Think Reynolds and Mbye.

 

[earl]

It's stupidity approaching farce to suggest that Tigers haven't learned XYZ as an organisation because they choose to pursue a player who maybe doesn't like another player currently employed.

That was one tiny piece of the article. The point is we are offering big money to a player who is probably past it. We could use that money on another player.

If he plays well for us then this isn't an issue but surely big dollar contracts shouldn't be wasted on someone like Bateman.

 

[Cobarcats]

@Cobarcats - I agree that the idea of those two players not getting along is a stupid story with no relevance at all.

The rest of that comment was spot on. No one is willing to put big money into Bateman except for Sheens.

You'd think we'd learn that when you waste big money on players it screws us over for a long time. Think Reynolds and Mbye.

Mate Reynold and Mbye screwed our salary cap, I don't think this is the same, especially since the tranfer money isn't included.

 

[earl]

Mate Reynold and Mbye screwed our salary cap, I don't think this is the same, especially since the tranfer money isn't included.

I think it will. He isn't going to come cheap. Like Happy states he left for more money.

 

[liltiger]

@Cobarcats - I agree that the idea of those two players not getting along is a stupid story with no relevance at all.

The rest of that comment was spot on. No one is willing to put big money into Bateman except for Sheens.

You'd think we'd learn that when you waste big money on players it screws us over for a long time. Think Reynolds and Mbye.

This is the main point, the 250k out side of the cap doesn't really matter, Wests Ashfield won't even notice it if they had to chip it in, but Bateman will be judged purely on the value he brings, if he performs reliably on a million dollar contract we would more than likely say he's under performed, if he performs the same on about 400k then we would be pretty chuffed about the club finally making an astute signing. It depends how much he's on if he comes. That's the secret in the salary cap era any player can be great or poor it really depends how much of your cap they take to determine if they are providing that value for money. I'd offer Bateman 400 - 450k he has proven he can do it in the nrl. If he doesn't quite hit the highs he did at Canberra then it's not an amount that will cripple our cap waiting for his contract to end.

 

[Cobarcats]

I think it will. He isn't going to come cheap. Like Happy states he left for more money.

Mate we had to cull and buy someone. I think it's a situation of you'll be dammed if you do and dammed if you don't start recruiting.
I would be a terrible coach because I see the good things more than the bad.
I do know if we come last next year and we didn't make an attempt to improve our roster then there would be a burning down of the COE.
If he comes into the team and reproduces the Raiders form then it's happy days.
Can you imagine Papa, Api and Johnny running riot...mmmm

 

[tiger_one]

This is the main point, the 250k out side of the cap doesn't really matter, Wests Ashfield won't even notice it if they had to chip it in, but Bateman will be judged purely on the value he brings, if he performs reliably on a million dollar contract we would more than likely say he's under performed, if he performs the same on about 400k then we would be pretty chuffed about the club finally making an astute signing. It depends how much he's on if he comes. That's the secret in the salary cap era any player can be great or poor it really depends how much of your cap they take to determine if they are providing that value for money. I'd offer Bateman 400 - 450k he has proven he can do it in the nrl. If he doesn't quite hit the highs he did at Canberra then it's not an amount that will cripple our cap waiting for his contract to end.

All that plus the value add:

enticing other rep players to consider joining Wests Tigers
being a mentor to the young forwards who are still developing
being an experienced hard head/winner - which we lack

 

[earl]

Can you imagine Papa, Api and Johnny running riot...mmmm

I'm really confident IP will kill it. I think Api will be really good. I have a very low degree of confidence in Bateman.

We do have choices as well. Nanai and Fifita are both off contract.

 

[Cobarcats]

You mean for 2024?

 

[earl]

I'd offer Bateman 400 - 450k he has proven he can do it in the nrl.

The money matters right.

 

[happy_tiger]

Any 1 who thinks he was been greedy and treated Canberra poorly go and listen to his podcasts on bloke in a bar. The media made him out to be a monster but he really wasn’t

So are we solely blaming Isaac Moses ??

Moses went out looking for a better deal for his client without his knowledge

Canberra and in particular Ricky stuart are lying when they gave him permission to negotiate a bigger better deal with another club

And why didn't the reason for being homesick come out until AFTER he got a better deal to go back to the ESL ??

That isn't made up ....all these things happened ......Stuart said as much in an interview ..if that was BS Bateman's legal team would of eaten Stuart for breakfast

If what many other CLAIM is true ...that his sole reason was being homesick and missing his daughter ...you would just come out and say it ...no fair blue blooded human with kids would question you for doing that and would probably give him some leniency .... true ??

Just like we did with one G Ellis ....he was honest ...we respected what he did for the club ..and moved on ..missed him like all hell ...but we understand family and the like come first

 

[earl]

You mean for 2024?

We aren't getting Bateman for 1 season and getting Bateman for 2 or 3 seasons rules us out of the race for those guys or probably any other young edge backrower coming through.

Is that really worth it.

I could be wrong. Bateman could kill it for us.

I just don't see it as smart roster management from us right now. If these rumours are true I'm concerned Sheens has lost the plot.

 

[Cobarcats]

We aren't getting Bateman for 1 season and getting Bateman for 2 or 3 seasons rules us out of the race for those guys or probably any other young edge backrower coming through.

Is that really worth it.

I could be wrong. Bateman could kill it for us.

I just don't see it as smart roster management from us right now. If these rumours are true I'm concerned Sheens has lost the plot.

I see where your going with that Earl.
Do we know what the offer is if any and what are the options.
Salary cap increases?
I don't have a grasp on it Earl other than going on his Raiders form.
The thing I like about Johnny is he is full of energy, popping up everywhere, jumping on loose balls and backing up the line breakers.
I've watched a couple of his games since our interest in him and he's exactly what the tigers lacked this year.....a heartbeat.

 

[happy_tiger]

Bateman won't come cheap ...he'll be looking for 750 k a season ..maybe more to come play for us

My biggest concern is he isn't the biggest backrower going around (96kgs) and he plays like a 110 kg backrower

That takes a toll on your body and this will be his 11th season of Rugby League

I am very concerned about how many more seasons his body has left ..especially coming off a shoulder reco in 2020

If we get him lets hope he finds that Canberra form ...because he hasn't played as well as that since leaving Canberra ....

It has to be classed as a risky signing ...more risk than say Papa is ..thats for sure