Wests Tigers recruit John Bateman will have a little over a week to prepare for the NRL’s opening round after finally clearing a stumbling block that had prevented him from travelling to Australia to join his new teammates.
The English international has been stranded in the United Kingdom since Christmas waiting for a police check to come back. The document has finally been processed, opening the door for his visa to be granted. Tigers officials are expecting the star back-rower to be at Concord by the end of next week.
It would give Tigers coach Tim Sheens and his assistants Benji Marshall and Robbie Farah little time to assess their signing’s fitness before the start of the NRL season. The Tigers will play the Titans in their first game at Leichhardt Oval on Sunday, March 5.
Tigers chairman Lee Hagipantelis had described the situation as “beyond frustrating” earlier this week having announced Bateman’s signing on Boxing Day.
The former Raiders player, who was a key cog of their grand final run in 2019, inked a four-year deal with the joint venture.
John Bateman is poised to arrive in Australia next week.Credit:Getty
He will join new captain Api Koroisau, Isaiah Papali’i and David Klemmer in a new-look forward pack intent on dragging the Tigers off the bottom of the table.
Sheens will consider using Bateman off the bench in the opening rounds until he reaches full fitness after a taxing World Cup campaign with England.
The Tigers were forced to pay a transfer fee to prise Bateman out of his Wigan contract, and then send training videos to him remotely so he can get up to speed with Sheens’ attacking revolution.
The club even had Bateman, considered one of the most destructive players in the competition before returning to the English Super League, speak via video call at their season launch last week.
Five-eighth Adam Doueihi has signed a one-year extension to stay at Concord as the club await a decision from Eels halfback Mitchell Moses over his future.
“I’m really happy to extend my stay here at Wests Tigers,” Doueihi said. “We’ve all trained hard in pre-season and our team is in great shape.”
Doueihi will make his first appearance of the year when the Tigers finish their pre-season challenge preparations against Bateman’s old club, Canberra, at Belmore on Sunday.
