John Bateman says he has not spoken to Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall or any senior club official since his mid-season loan to Warrington in July.
The international back-rower also feels like he was made the scapegoat for another disappointing Tigers season last year, and asked why the club took so long to publicly hose down reports he had spectacularly fallen out with Marshall.
The 31-year-old England international says he had every intention to return to Sydney to fulfil the final two years of his Tigers deal, only to sign with the North Queensland Cowboys before Christmas.
Bateman says he has no regrets about his two years at the Tigers, but is also glad to see the back of Sydney.
“I had all intentions of going back, [even though] the club may have had a different view on that,” Bateman told this masthead on Friday.
“When I got to England, I was seeing all these stories [about my relationship with Marshall].
“I was pretty disappointed it wasn’t shut down earlier by the club. Benji came out four months later to say we never had an argument, but that could have been shut down a lot earlier.
“I didn’t have any blow-ups or an argument with Benji or anything like that.
“The last time I spoke to him, we had a chat about moving forward, about what we want, and the opportunity that Warrington had given me. That was the last time I spoke to him.
“I didn’t hear from anyone once I got to England about coming back.
“I didn’t hear anything when I was signed [by the Cowboys] in the pre-season.
John Bateman says he hasn’t heard a word from anyone at Wests Tigers since he joined Warrington on loan in July.Credit: Getty Images
“When I went to England, I didn’t speak to anyone [at the Tigers] after that. It’s pretty bizarre.”
Bateman had to delay his arrival at the Tigers for the start of the 2023 season due to visa issues. Last year, he underwent ankle surgery – part of his plantaris muscle was removed – which hindered his preparations again.
Apart from losing, Bateman was concerned about the development of the Tigers’ younger players, saying: “I wanted the kids to learn. They have a great bunch of kids there. At times, I didn’t feel like they were learning how I wanted them to learn, and I wanted them to get better.
“I refer back to [former Tigers halfback] Luke Brooks. The period I thought Brooksy should have been playing State of Origin and for Australia, he got caught in that trap of being there, and he didn’t pick anything else up, and he was made the scapegoat for years and years.
“I got a bit of that [feeling like the scapegoat] last year, but we move on. I never regret anything. I wish the club all the best. I still have a lot of good mates at that club.”
Bateman says he feels the “best I’ve felt in five years”, and will start on the right edge at the Cowboys and be given the job of protecting rookie halfback Tom Duffy.
Cowboys coach Todd Payten said of Bateman’s signing: “Straight away we could see the class in him. His competitive nature has also rubbed off on our guys. We knew we were getting a 31-year-old who had played a lot of footy; we might have to manipulate his [training] days and weeks … but I can’t speak highly enough of him.”