John Bateman has a score to settle with the Sydney Roosters and opposite back-rower Boyd Cordner at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.
Bateman has been a revelation for Canberra since coming to Australia earlier this year and played a major part in the Raiders reaching Sunday’s NRL grand final.
It’s already been a big week for the ex-Bradford and Wigan forward who on Wednesday night was crowned the Dally M second-rower of the year in just his first year in the NRL.
But he’s in no danger of resting on his laurels heading into Sunday’s season decider against the reigning premiers, declaring the battle is personal.
Bateman’s beef with the Roosters goes back five years when he was a part of the Wigan side which lost to the Sydney club in the 2014 World Club Challenge.
It was the 26-year-old’s first appearance in the Warriors jumper and has vivid memories of playing opposite Cordner at Allianz Stadium.
And while the World Club Challenge is sometimes viewed lightly in Australia, the results still sticks in his craw, saying it was one of the biggest games of his career.
The Roosters were once again triumphant against Wigan in this year’s play-off to be crowned the world’s best team.
Though Bateman had departed for the nation’s capital by then, he has fielded texts from former teammates this week urging him to mete out revenge against the Roosters.
“It doesn’t sit well with me, if I’m honest” Bateman said.
“It’s the World Club Challenge, you’re playing to be the best team in the world.
“One of my mates who plays for Wigan, Dan Sarginson, texted me the other day and said ‘mate, they took two World Club Challenges off us’.
“You don’t like losing, especially in the big games.”
Ricky Stuart’s English revolution has transformed the Raiders into a title force with fellow Englishmen Josh Hodgson, Elliott Whitehead and Ryan Sutton all playing vital roles in 2019.
Bateman revealed it only took one phone call from Stuart, which oozed passion, to convince him to come to Australia.
“He told me this is what he wanted to do, he had dreams and ambitions to take the team back to the top, get into the big games, get into the finals,” Bateman said.
“The passion when he first got on the phone to me, mate, I literally got off the phone, rang my agent and said ‘right, we’ll sign that contract now’.
“Straight away mate. It’s one of the things you want to hear from every coach. It could have been a load of bullshit but I signed it and it worked. But he’s lived up to his word.”
