John Bateman

[GA45]

Piss Off Mal

 

[NPC83]

Mal Meninga wants Titans to beat Bulldogs to sign John Bateman
On Monday, John Bateman’s move from Canberra to Canterbury looked all but a done deal. But on Tuesday, Raiders legend Mal Meninga said the Englishman would be a perfect fit for the Gold Coast.


Canberra legend Mal Meninga has set his sights on poaching Raiders star John Bateman as the Gold Coast Titans target a replacement for Jai Arrow.

The Courier-Mail can reveal the Titans have their eyes on Bateman following revelations the English sensation has been granted permission to negotiate with rival clubs by the Raiders.

Bateman's future has become a hot topic on the eve of the NRL season reboot as his contract stalemate with the Raiders gathered momentum.

Bateman, 26, was outstanding in his first NRL season last year, playing 23 games as the Raiders reached the grand final.

On a contract worth about $600,000-a-season, Bateman is seeking an upgraded deal and could walk out on the Raiders if he strikes a rich payday.

The Titans are on the hunt for a star No.13 following the defection of Queensland Origin forward Arrow to South Sydney from next year.

Bateman would be a prime replacement for Arrow and Meninga confirmed the Titans had sounded him out.

“I asked my recruitment manager (Ezra Howe) to sound John and Isaac Moses (manager) out," Meninga said.


“We would certainly be interested in him. We need a marquee player, to be honest with you.

“John popped into the market recently so he wasn’t under consideration because he was locked up with the Raiders.

“If he’s on the market and available, we will certainly be looking at him. He fits perfectly with (Arrow leaving), absolutely.”

The Titans lost Arrow after refusing to match the $800,000-a-season offered by the Rabbitohs, who were on the hunt to replace the retired Sam Burgess.

That is the type of money Bateman is seeking to leave the Raiders and the Titans have cash to splash, with 10 off-contract players yet to receive new deals for 2021.

Meninga, the Titans' head of performance and culture, played 166 games for the Raiders and said he was a fan of Bateman’s toughness and tenacity.

“He’s just a damn good player and competitor,” he said.

“He is hard to tackle and tough. He is very resilient. He is skilful, quick and has an evasive ability.

“He is a physically and mentally tough player … all the things you want in a player.”

https://www.couriermail.com.au/spor...n/news-story/5e2999c24bc7869a12cf732461cf10f8

Why would Malcolm tell everyone so openly he’s chasing Bateman... they paid huge dollars for the young storm forward for next year... bit interesting here... GC good place to retire..

 

[Spoonman84]

Why would Malcolm tell everyone so openly he’s chasing Bateman... they paid huge dollars for the young storm forward for next year... bit interesting here... GC good place to retire..

He’s actually keen or wants to drive up his price.

 

[The_Chimpster]

Piss Off Mal

 

[Nasheed]

I told you all Titans will come in thick and fast.
Sick of ALWAYS being right. He's exactly what they need.

 

[Baseball Furies]

Why would Malcolm tell everyone so openly he’s chasing Bateman... they paid huge dollars for the young storm forward for next year... bit interesting here... GC good place to retire..

And they’ve already got Proctor, Boyd and Cartwright in the forwards on big money plus the crazy amount they have Ash Taylor on, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me? But yeah, if you want a payday....

 

[CrittaMagic69]

And they’ve already got Proctor, Boyd and Cartwright in the forwards on big money plus the crazy amount they have Ash Taylor on, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me? But yeah, if you want a payday....

Mal wants every big name player that hits the market, the fuck is his job anyway as "head of culture" or whatever it is.

 

[NPC83]

Mal wants every big name player that hits the market, the fuck is his job anyway as "head of culture" or whatever it is.

Very hard to change the culture of the GC.. maybe he has gone up there for the money sun and surf like most players do.. just acting busy for now..

 

[Baseball Furies]

Mal wants every big name player that hits the market, the fuck is his job anyway as "head of culture" or whatever it is.

I think he wants to be somewhat of a “mouthpiece” and use his past successes as a “drawcard”.
Needs to zip it though...

 

[The_Chimpster]

Sick of ALWAYS being right.

Hahahaha hahahaha hahahaha
At you being right about anything.

Saw this and instantly thought of you.

 

[bricktamland]

And they’ve already got Proctor, Boyd and Cartwright in the forwards on big money plus the crazy amount they have Ash Taylor on, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me? But yeah, if you want a payday....

Cartwrite is a 2 dollar version of tiny Williams . No heart but all the skill and size

 

[Kempsey Dog]

Mal wants every big name player that hits the market, the fuck is his job anyway as "head of culture" or whatever it is.

the big fucker is a fraud... dude could play but fuck knows how he gets more jobs, dean pay would have led the maroons to 8 in a row lol

 

[The_Chimpster]

the big fucker is a fraud... dude could play but fuck knows how he gets more jobs, dean pay would have led the maroons to 8 in a row lol

And he probably wouldn't have lost to Tonga either.

Fuck this is what it's come to, saying pay is better than meninga.
Kind of akin to being the smartest kid with down syndrome

 

[Farcanrefs]

We shouldve had koroisau how we botched that I’ll never know

Umm errr...... because we got blindsided by Barrett and Penrith who offered more money at the 11th hour......cash talks.

 

[bradtalo]

Laurie Daley is saying the below about Bateman. Some might suspect Daley is stating this so the Raiders can keep him but I haven't watched a lot of Raiders games. Is Bateman really just another Josh Jackson ? (not that explosive)

Canberra great Laurie Daley, meanwhile, says he doubts that Bateman is worth what he’s asking for.

Daley also suggested that the Bulldogs are only going after Bateman because they have the cash, not because they actually need a mobile and hard-working second-rower.

“I said to a mate of mine who’s a Bulldogs supporter, you already have John Bateman there. Josh Jackson is a John Bateman,” said Daley.

“Me personally, I’d be looking for a more damaging back-rower, someone who’s more explosive.

“You’d look at the financial situation at the club and you’d try and manoeuvre it to pay him a little more.

“I don’t pay him $800,000, $650,000 would be the cut-off. I couldn’t pay $800,000 for him.

“He’s a great player, but when I’m paying $800,000 I want someone who’s going to bring something a little different to what John’s going to bring to the team.”

 

[The_Chimpster]

Laurie Daley is saying the below about Bateman. Some might suspect Daley is stating this so the Raiders can keep him but I haven't watched a lot of Raiders games. Is Bateman really just another Josh Jackson ? (not that explosive)

Canberra great Laurie Daley, meanwhile, says he doubts that Bateman is worth what he’s asking for.

Daley also suggested that the Bulldogs are only going after Bateman because they have the cash, not because they actually need a mobile and hard-working second-rower.

“I said to a mate of mine who’s a Bulldogs supporter, you already have John Bateman there. Josh Jackson is a John Bateman,” said Daley.

“Me personally, I’d be looking for a more damaging back-rower, someone who’s more explosive.

“You’d look at the financial situation at the club and you’d try and manoeuvre it to pay him a little more.

“I don’t pay him $800,000, $650,000 would be the cut-off. I couldn’t pay $800,000 for him.

“He’s a great player, but when I’m paying $800,000 I want someone who’s going to bring something a little different to what John’s going to bring to the team.”

Back when Laurie Daley was commentating and a regular on footy shows, he'd always harp on about Kurt Gidley, about how he's "the strongest man in the nrl" and he's "an absolute inspiration"

So yeah, I don't think anyone should take his opinion at all seriously

 

[B-Train]

Haha okay Loz. Jackson and Bateman are completely different styles of players. Jacko has never had much skill whereas Bateman has the ball in two hands every run and can ball play as well as any forward in the comp.

It's scary to think he was Origin coach for so many years.

 

[Spoonman84]

A players price is all relative to what your needs are. He’s probably not worth $800k to most clubs but we need a circuit breaker in terms of landing a big fish. We also need to earn some creditability with potential recruits in that if they see Bateman has bought in then others will follow. If you have to over pay for that first domino to fall so be it just don’t over pay after that.

 

[Novdoggie]

Bateman and Jackson in the second row you bet ya! Bateman can and has busted tackles. Defensively he is as good as Jackson and a hard hitter. Could be an intimidating duo.

Still plenty of money to sign a top shelf forward.

 

[bradyk]

Laurie Daley is saying the below about Bateman. Some might suspect Daley is stating this so the Raiders can keep him but I haven't watched a lot of Raiders games. Is Bateman really just another Josh Jackson ? (not that explosive)

Canberra great Laurie Daley, meanwhile, says he doubts that Bateman is worth what he’s asking for.

Daley also suggested that the Bulldogs are only going after Bateman because they have the cash, not because they actually need a mobile and hard-working second-rower.

“I said to a mate of mine who’s a Bulldogs supporter, you already have John Bateman there. Josh Jackson is a John Bateman,” said Daley.

“Me personally, I’d be looking for a more damaging back-rower, someone who’s more explosive.

“You’d look at the financial situation at the club and you’d try and manoeuvre it to pay him a little more.

“I don’t pay him $800,000, $650,000 would be the cut-off. I couldn’t pay $800,000 for him.

“He’s a great player, but when I’m paying $800,000 I want someone who’s going to bring something a little different to what John’s going to bring to the team.”

Bateman's great defensively (just as good as Jackson imo and makes it personal) and is an attacking threat. You just need to watch his highlights from last season and you'll see he's nothing like Jackson and we were wishing we had players that could do 1/2 of the things Bateman does. Frizell just signed with the Knights for ~700k and Bateman's better imo (I can only judge him of one season tho). We'd be crazy not to pay the 800k. Some of Daley's comments are bizarre to me.