Batemans Gone

[DaveO]

You wont know if its egg on the face or a brilliant idea until it happens but its very rare a player will lose the level of class bateman is at the age of 27-28. Its like a work secondment you go to the new job for a set period then return to your old role.

Batemans's potential form and fitness in 2 or 3 seasons is only part of the issue. This has tied the club to re-signing him in 2 or 3 years and paying him a marquee wage whether he is the player the squad needs at that time or not. For that reason alone it is a stupid idea.

In addition, yet another deal to offer a player who is leaving a bolt hole back will, IMO, just encourage others to ask for the same deal. Rumours about Williams wanting to go to the NRL have cropped up. I am sure him or others will be encouraged to give it a try if this is how the club react. Without the club being so accommodating there is more to consider before asking for a move. With the way Wigan act, there is no downside to seeking an NRL gig.

[DaveO]

We have all this foaming at the mouth regarding his return contract having been already signed, but imo Bateman will be back after 1 yea, infact I'm confident he will. And for the people saying he isn't a Marquee player id like to see who you think is, he's the best second rower in Super League.

If he's back after a year he will have failed and so far those who have quit early have been a shadow of the player that left. Mentally they seem to lose something.

Ironically the only one to come close to bucking this trend is Sam Tomkins and if you want to see who is of marquee standard as opposed to Bateman, he is the only one who comes close. He has far more influence on games than Baterman does but in its wisdom the club decided to withdraw marquee status from Tomkins as well as letting him go and has decided to preordain Bateman as such two or three years into the future!

The thing that concerns me massively is that we would have lost a massive amount of aggression next year.

He will be a big loss, Sam T a bigger one. The fact both are going and there are no replacements who have their qualities in their positions makes the new coaches job in 2019 a very difficult one. The pair of them have been the only ones trying to play at times in some recent games.

The comments from IL about Isa, Faz and Greenwood giving us cover in the back row suggest we won't be signing anyone else in Batemans position anyway.

[No straw damn us]

We have all this foaming at the mouth regarding his return contract having been already signed, but imo Bateman will be back after 1 yea, infact I'm confident he will. And for the people saying he isn't a Marquee player id like to see who you think is, he's the best second rower in Super League.

The thing that concerns me massively is that we would have lost a massive amount of aggression next year.

I know that's under consideration.

[DaveO]

We have all this foaming at the mouth regarding his return contract having been already signed, but imo Bateman will be back after 1 yea, infact I'm confident he will. And for the people saying he isn't a Marquee player id like to see who you think is, he's the best second rower in Super League.

If he's back after a year he will have failed and so far those who have quit early have been a shadow of the player that left. Mentally they seem to lose something.

Ironically the only one to come close to bucking this trend is Sam Tomkins and if you want to see who is of marquee standard as opposed to Bateman, he is the only one who comes close. He has far more influence on games than Baterman does but in its wisdom the club decided to withdraw marquee status from Tomkins as well as letting him go and has decided to preordain Bateman as such two or three years into the future!

The thing that concerns me massively is that we would have lost a massive amount of aggression next year.

He will be a big loss, Sam T a bigger one. The fact both are going and there are no replacements who have their qualities in their positions makes the new coaches job in 2019 a very difficult one. The pair of them have been the only ones trying to play at times in some recent games.

The comments from IL about Isa, Faz and Greenwood giving us cover in the back row suggest we won't be signing anyone else in Batemans position anyway.

I wouldn't say failure, I'm saying smoke and mirrors Bateman doesn't want to leave it's that simple, but feels he isn't getting paid in line with his ability. He will be professional and do his job over there but will want to return. The contract given to Williams put the cat amongst the pigeons and wasn't well received within the squad.Mentally Bateman is spot on and is a confident lad im positive he will come back the same player.

Regarding Tomkins, we have a better player in Hardaker.

I predict Hardaker will look good for 15 minutes or so one in every three games. It will coincide with when Lockers is on the pitch and playing. Hardaker is a finisher not a creator, which is what Sam T is. That is why we will miss him. Without Lockers on the pitch he is literally the only player with any idea how to do anything. Hardaker will not replace that in the side.

I also do not get what you say about Bateman not wanting to leave and not being paid enough. With Sam T going there is a marquee slot open so the club could pay him as much as it liked from next season. No need for him to go anywhere unless the club simply will not come up with the cash and yet the press release says they offered him marquee status for next season. And if that is a load of poppycock why will the club be having him back in 2020 and paying marquee wages to boot? Why does he have to leave to force their hand and why would leaving for a year force them into paying him higher wages if in reality they don't want to?

It also begs the question who is running the club, IL or John Bateman?

[Caboosegg]

You wont know if its egg on the face or a brilliant idea until it happens but its very rare a player will lose the level of class bateman is at the age of 27-28. Its like a work secondment you go to the new job for a set period then return to your old role.

Batemans's potential form and fitness in 2 or 3 seasons is only part of the issue. This has tied the club to re-signing him in 2 or 3 years and paying him a marquee wage whether he is the player the squad needs at that time or not. For that reason alone it is a stupid idea.

In addition, yet another deal to offer a player who is leaving a bolt hole back will, IMO, just encourage others to ask for the same deal. Rumours about Williams wanting to go to the NRL have cropped up. I am sure him or others will be encouraged to give it a try if this is how the club react. Without the club being so accommodating there is more to consider before asking for a move. With the way Wigan act, there is no downside to seeking an NRL gig.

it works both way though if we don't offer it we then may lose out when they return.

we have been lucky in recent years with Wingers but if we hadn't been we would have missed out on charnly (who is having a good season) would you be annoyed? not all player also come back failures, Greg Eden? Mike Cooper they didn't cut it in the NRL for some reason but they are both stand out players in SL

its not that i'm happy that Bateman is going and has a life line, i'm not. but would you want him staying wishing he had tried the NRL and regretting being at wigan? i am happy he is returning after his stint as i have not seen as much pride in wearing a wigan shirt in recent years as John Bateman has shown and for that reason i will welcome him back.

its rare player have loyalty in any form to clubs anymore and the fact we have Faz/Locker and bateman who does want to play for us in the long term is brilliant.

of course he could end up going over enjoying the lifestyle and never come back then i will have a different view of this but thats hindsight/

[ddtftf]

Another Wigan Trick, there is no way Bateman will return for a 3 year contract after 3 years in the NRL at Canberra. He will be 27 then and if he makes it they will throw so much money at him he will not return.

Once again we are treated like we are brain dead, the only way Bateman will return is if he is crocked and they dont want him.

[Mike]

How can he agree a 3 year deal that starts in 3 years time. That's really strange. What if he's a Sam Burgess world super star by then - he'd be underselling himself. Or more realisitcally, what if he's injured? I guess the "contract" is more of a agreement of first refusal to see if a contract could be done as a marquee player at that point.

BTW, he's a great player, but I personally don't think marquee money should go on second rows or props. It doesn't seem like a good place to allocate the top money to me.

[Mouse13]

So you wouldnt throw marquee money at say Sam Burgess ???

[fozzieskem]

How can he agree a 3 year deal that starts in 3 years time. That's really strange. What if he's a Sam Burgess world super star by then - he'd be underselling himself. Or more realisitcally, what if he's injured? I guess the "contract" is more of a agreement of first refusal to see if a contract could be done as a marquee player at that point.

BTW, he's a great player, but I personally don't think marquee money should go on second rows or props. It doesn't seem like a good place to allocate the top money to me.

Agreed good post

[Mike]

So you wouldnt throw marquee money at say Sam Burgess ???

There are always exceptions, but right now I personally don't think even sam burgess would be one of those. 5 years ago probably yes, but not now.