NRL 2025: Manly circling again as RLPA called in after latest twist in John Bateman-Wests Tigers feud
Manly are circling John Bateman once again, as the English forward edges towards the exit door at the Wests Tigers. This is the untold story of his falling out with coach Benji Marshall.
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Manly have re-emerged as a potential landing spot for John Bateman after the players union was called in to resolve the latest dispute between the English forward and his NRL club, the Wests Tigers.
The development adds another tense chapter in the previously untold story of Bateman’s falling out with Wests Tigers coach Benji Marshall, which has been simmering for months behind the scenes at the Sydney club, and explains why the 31-year-old moved to Warrington midway through last season.
Heralded as a “world class player” by premiership-winning coach Tim Sheens upon his arrival at the Tigers in 2023, Bateman has likely played his last game for the club.
It can be revealed that the Tigers would be happy to let Bateman go and would even chip in part of his $750,000 salary to make it happen, such has been the fractious relationship between the player and officials at the club.
Chief executive Shane Richardson and the Tigers are backing Marshall to the hilt, making it clear that Bateman must toe the line or spend the season in NSW Cup.
The Sea Eagles could prove the solution to a saga that stretches back to last July, having expressed an interest in the 30-Test forward for 2025, if they can make the deal stack up.
Whether Bateman is part of the Tigers’ future remain unclear. Chances are he will be gone and when he is, it will draw the curtain on a six-month saga that pitted one of the club’s highest-paid players, a ruthless and unapologetic competitor, against a coach and favourite son.
This is a look inside the Bateman saga - how it began, why the club would be happy to part ways with Bateman, and why the Rugby League Players Association became involved.
THE MOMENT
Round 20, 2024: Wests Tigers beaten 42-28 by the Rabbitohs in Gosford.
This was the match that changed everything for Bateman. It would be his final game of the season - possibly ever - for the Wests Tigers.
Trailing South Sydney 10-0 nil after 12-minutes, the Wests Tigers rallied to lead 12-10 after 20-minutes when rookie hooker Tallyn Da Silva went himself to score.
It was a match the Wests Tigers could’ve and should’ve won, playing tit-for-tat football with Souths for the majority of the match.
Yet with 16-minutes remaining the Bunnies led by only six-points.
The final 11-minutes were ordinary from the Tigers with their whopping 17 errors, including a wild back-field pass from fullback Jahream Bula to inexperienced winger Luke Laulilii contributing to the Rabbitohs running away with the match.
Inside the dressing rooms after full time, Bateman - the intense competitive character that he is, sat filthy and staring into the abyss. As Marshall spoke to the team, Bateman didn’t like the sound of the head coach’s post-match tone, where the veteran forward felt the responsibility of the loss was being directed at the senior players.
Marshall would suggest as much in the post-match press conference: “I thought the kids were really good today. I think some of our senior players probably can be a bit better.
“But at the end of the day it’s on me.”
So frustrated was Bateman that teammate Adam Doueihi, in just his fifth game back after more than 12-months out, was asked to attend the post-match press conference instead of the English forward.
The late swap slipped under the guard of the awaiting media. The next day, sources with knowledge of the situation, have explained how Bateman spoke to Marshall to further vent his frustration with having to shoulder the load for a young squad that Marshall was intent on blooding.
Bateman was also upset with Marshall’s positivity and up-beat review of the side’s loss to the Rabbitohs.
The hard-nosed Englishman was of the belief that the team needed some home truths.
Yet it’s understood Marshall doubled-down on his backing of the rookies, believing the responsibility fell on the senior players - some of whom were among the highest paid in the club - to drag the Tigers out of their quagmire.
Sources with knowledge of the meeting said that Marshall made it clear that Bateman would be playing reserve grade the next week.
And he wouldn’t be the only player dropped either. At least one other senior player was about to be axed, his place in first grade only saved when injury to the intended to be promoted player occurred.
Bateman left that meeting burning with frustration and anger. It was the last meeting he would have with Marshall - that night Warrington coach Sam Burgess called Richardson and offered to take Bateman off his hands for the rest of the season.
Richardson and the Tigers couldn’t say yes quick enough.
RLPA CALLED TO STEP-IN
Bateman played 10 games for Warrington through last season, his time ending in a sem-final loss to Hull KR six weeks ago.
Once his commitment with Warrington was over, Bateman stayed in England to play in two Test matches against Samoa.
Burgess wanted to keep Bateman at Warrington, but the experienced second-rower was intent on returning to the NRL, particularly due to his wife being Australian and who also boasts a high-flying job.
“I’ll be spending my time with my family but after Christmas I’ll be back there,” Bateman told NRL.com from England last month.
That wasn’t the end of the drama. The Tigers initially told Bateman he was due back at training before Christmas, on December 21.
Bateman had other ideas - he was of the belief he should be off until December 28, which would have been when the Tigers were on their Christmas break, meaning he wouldn’t return to training until the new year.
It is understood Bateman provided a letter from Warrington supporting his claim that he should be given extra time off.
The parties were once again at loggerheads, leading to the intervention of the Rugby League Players Association to resolve another stalemate between the club and one of their highest-paid players.
With the paperwork in front of them, the RLPA sided with Bateman, delaying his return to a club where he is not necessarily welcome.
NO APOLOGIES
Richardson and the Tigers are making no apologies for cleaning house.
The club has been in a decade-long firestorm that has frustrated fans and resulted in an extreme turnover of leadership, structures, coaches, players and staff.
“Players have to live up to what the standards are of a team that’s going to be successful,” Richardson said.
“There’s no stone unturned about the discipline the club requires to be successful. I’ve got to say overall, I’ve had no major pushback on that.”
What can also be revealed is that Bateman won’t be the only departure.
The club is locked in a legal battle with young prop Jordan Miller after sacking him over disciplinary issues.
Other changes are afoot, the most significant the expected departure of half Jayden Sullivan, who was offered for virtually nothing to return to his former club the Dragons.
Saints weren’t interested. The concern with Sullivan isn’t related to discipline or team harmony. Officials at the club like Sullivan and have no concerns with his work ethic or personality.
The issue is that the club is overloaded in the halves and Sullivan is on a fat contract that means their salary cap and squad are out of sync.
There is also a focus on bringing in the right senior figures to lead the way. The hope is that Penrith premiership winner Jarome Luai can be their talisman in that regard.
“People say to me all the time, how do you get clubs out of the mire,” Richardson said.
“It’s three things - people, people and people. You’ve got to have the right people in place and the right players in place to be able to change the culture the way you want to be and the right disciplines in place.
“It’s not unusual. It’s actually what every decent club does. The good clubs - the senior players lead by example. It’s as simple as that.”
CULTURE CLUB
Richardson is coming up to his one-year anniversary in the job and makes it very clear there will be no cutting corners when it comes to the culture at the club.
The Tigers have won three wooden spoons in succession. They have gone a decade without playing finals football and the club has made a series of poor recruitment calls that have left them in a hole.
The hope is that the emergence of young players like Lachlan Galvin and the arrival of Luai will address some of the issues.
Bateman isn’t alone in the belief that Marshall has handed too much power, too soon, to the club’s most talented rookies led by Galvin - a storyline that will develop as the 2025 season unfolds.
Until then, discipline has become a focus of the offseason and no doubt played a part in the decision to distance themselves from Bateman.
Richardson has made it eminently clear that Marshall has his unmitigated support. It’s Benji’s way or the highway.
“It doesn’t matter whether it is John Bateman or anybody else in the club, we have to create discipline and a support mechanism behind the head coach,” Richardson said.
“And I support that 100 percent. So the players have got to understand that Benji’s way is the way. It’s as simple as that.
“And if they want to play first grade at the club, they have to understand it is under what Benji’s rules are. It’s got nothing to do with between young players and older players.
“You’re paying the older players more money and they should be well aware of what their responsibilities are now.
“We have won three straight wooden spoons. We are just not not going to accept anything that is not absolutely of the higher standards for culture and for training and everything else.
“So it’s not just about John Bateman, it’s about everybody.”
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