NRL market watch: John Bateman has unfinished business in NRL, Canberra Elliott Whitehead says
The NRL finals are on us but the transfer market never stops — and recruitment bosses will no doubt be hitting the phones after this latest news.
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Canberra captain Elliott Whitehead has declared former Raider John Bateman has unfinished business in the NRL and is backing him to make a successful return to Australia.
Bateman literally sent a message to potential suitors, using Monday’s NRL finals launch to put himself in the shopfront window.
It came through his former teammate and close friend Whitehead, who was in Sydney to promote Saturday’s elimination final clash against the Storm in Melbourne.
Despite the time difference between Sydney and Wigan, Whitehead and Bateman were in contact during Monday morning’s finals launch.
Whitehead shared with The Daily Telegraph the last message Bateman sent before the Raiders skipper had to meet his media commitments.
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“He was messaging me a minute ago … he said ‘mention, me’,” Whitehead said, pointing to his phone.
Bateman was released from the final year of his Raiders deal at the end of the 2020 season, at the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, to return home to England and be with his young daughter.
The back-rower, who led Canberra to the 2019 grand final, is contracted to Wigan until the end of 2024 and the Super League outfit will not consider releasing Bateman without a transfer fee.
He’s already been linked with a move to the Wests Tigers, and also has a close relationship with Dolphins coach Wayne Bennett, who still has six spots left to fill in his inaugural roster for next season.
When asked about speculation regarding Bateman’s return to Australia next season, a coy Whitehead said “maybe, maybe. He definitely left before his time was over in the NRL.
“But he had his reasons at the time. I think if Covid wasn’t around he would not have left … but because of Covid, he didn’t get to see his daughter, it was hard for him.
“If people could come back and forth, I think it would have been a different story for both he and George Williams.
“I understand family is a massive thing and you can’t begrudge them for moving home.”
But Whitehead did not have to go out of his way to reference Bateman given his legacy still lives on at Canberra even though he only spent two seasons in the nation‘s capital.
“John was a massive part of what we did in 2019. He is a winner, he loves to compete. He brought a lot to the team in that aspect, we still have that in us … that hunger to win, the competitiveness he brought, it’s still there in us and we want to keep building on that even more now,” Whitehead said.
“Especially after losing in the grand final in 2019, after coming so close, we want to get back there.”
Canberra’s journey to another grand final appearance starts on Saturday night against the Storm at AAMI Park.
The Raiders have beaten the Storm in their last four clashes down south — including in round 18.
For Whitehead, the elimination final is likely to be decided up front.
“They have a big, experienced forward pack. But so do we,” Whitehead said.
“Joe Tapine is probably the best prop in the world at the moment, followed by Josh Papali’i.
“Then we have Hudson Young, he is playing out of his skin and probably should be playing for Australia in the World Cup.
“It’s a challenge for us as a pack but we’ve got over them the last few times and we’ll be looking to do that again.”
After a slow start to the season, Canberra are heading into the finals with seven wins from their last eight starts.
It has given the eighth placed Raiders the confidence to believe they can ‘shake-up’ the final series.
“We believe so, as a squad as a club we believe we can go all the way. Last week our goal was to make the finals and now we have done that, the next job is to win the grand final,” Whitehead said.
“We know we have a tough game against Melbourne on Saturday.
“We’re not here to make up the numbers.
“We definitely feel like we can give it a shake. We’ve been consistent in the back end of the season and in the games we have lost, we beat ourselves.”
Storm loaner commits future, reveals Brooks is ‘filthy’
On-loan Melbourne winger David Nofoaluma is about to break a 180-game finals drought and his Wests Tigers teammate Luke Brooks is ‘filthy’.
After an 11-year finals blackout for the Tigers, neither Nofoaluma or Brooks have ever lined up in a playoff game.
It took a loan deal with competition heavyweights the Storm for Nofoaluma to change that fate.
But playmaker Brooks is destined to build on his 189 games without a finals appearance – which is the most in the NRL.
“I had a laugh with Brooksy, he was filthy … I said ‘what’s wrong’. He said to me ‘you get to play finals and we are going to be watching’,” Nofoaluma revealed.
“I said ‘that’s all right, I’ll be playing for you boys’.
“I’m sure they are going to be watching even though the season is going to be done after this week. It’s funny me saying that, that’s usually me saying that to others.”
With the winger languishing in reserve grade at the Tigers, and with no plans to use him in the NRL side for the rest of the season, the Tigers approved Nofoaluma’s loan to Melbourne in late July.
It’s believed Tigers officials agreed the veteran finisher could benefit from being in the Melbourne system under disciplinarian coach Craig Bellamy.
Nofoaluma is contracted at Concord until the end of 2025 and is adamant he will be back in Tigers colours next season to help the likes of Brooks, who’s future at the club is uncertain, end his undesirable finals record.
“It’s a personal thing for myself. I came down to Melbourne to gain some leadership and see some of the leaders here, how they are … it starts with the leaders,” Nofoaluma said.
“That was my focus in coming to Melbourne, not just to be a better player but to get an understanding on how to be the best for your teammates.”
Since making his debut in 2013, September was nothing more than a sore point for Nofoaluma.
But after 10 failed seasons at Tigers, the 28-year-old is preparing to play the biggest game of his career when Melbourne take on Canberra in a week one elimination showdown.
“I try not to watch it … I watched for the first few years but just seeing the players receive their rings and holding the premiership trophy, it hurt a bit,” Nofoaluma said.
“It’s a credit to those players and those teams that have done it in the past.
“For me now, it’s just about working hard and doing what is best for the team and getting the premiership.
“I would have loved it to be at the Tigers but it hasn’t seemed to have worked out for the club over the last 10 years.”
Originally published as NRL market watch: John Bateman has unfinished business in NRL, Canberra Elliott Whitehead says
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