Dressing room ‘bust up’ behind backrower’s West Tigers sudden exit

‘Bizarre’ move questioned by NRL fans

Wests are the betting sites favourites to win the Wooden Spoon this year. Being doomed to finish last has not saved the Tigers from media criticism though.

The club have been under the microscope in recent weeks, after having suffered four straight defeats. So when the club made a shock announcement to let second-rower John Bateman leave on loan, the media did not pull any punches.

Most of the criticism came about the club’s supposed reasoning for letting Bateman go. The club said it would save them close to $100,000 in salary this season. Bateman would then rejoin the Tigers in 2025 to play out the rest of his 4-year contract with the club.

At 30 years old, NRL fans found it tough to believe that Bateman would actually want to come back after his stint at Warrington. Others criticised Wests for giving up on their season with six matches left to play.

On Tuesday’s NRL 360, News Corp’s Dean Ritchie slammed the move. The Bulldog called it “one of the most bizarre things I’ve ever heard.”

Host Braith Anasta was equally cutting. The former Tigers player simply asked “What the hell is going on here?”

Not having an answer, Fox’s Paul Crawley attacked the club’s reasoning. “Even if it saves you a bit of salary cap, you’ve got the credibility of your own club (to protect),” he said.

Bust up explains shock loan

Given how bizarre the move seemed to everyone on Monday when the story first broke, many assumed there was something else going on.

While other hosts blamed Tigers on NRL 360, Brisbane Broncos legend Gorden Tallis speculated that something might be going on behind the scenes with Bateman.

“When you’re a 31 year old, you’ve played the amount of footy he has, I think Bateman has to take a bit of responsibility,” he said. We now know that the ‘Raging Bull’ was right.

Multiple reports now claim that there was a ‘bust up’ between Bateman and Wests boss Benji Marshall. The two reportedly went at it in front of the rest of the team in the dressing room after the Tigers’ 42-28 loss to Souths on Saturday.

According to Fox Sports’ James Hooper, “He (Bateman) let Benji know in no uncertain terms that he thinks Benji treats the senior players as though they’re rookies and he treats the rookies as though they’re senior players.”

Whether what Bateman says about Marshall is true, we will never know. What we do know though, is that John Bateman has probably played his last match in a Tigers strip. He still has two years left on his Wests contract, but I cannot see him coming back from this.