Sam Burgess passes judgement on John Bateman’s debut, discusses complex positional decision
Head coach Sam Burgess (circle) handed John Bateman (main image) his Warrington Wolves debut in their defeat against Hull KR
After a ‘great’ debut, Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess admits he’s still scratching his head over where to slot new recruit John Bateman into his side.
Two-time Super league champion Bateman‘s signing was announced by Warrington at the back end of last week, joining the Wolves on a loan deal until the end of the season from NRL outfit Wests Tigers.
The 30-year-old landed in the UK at the start of this week, and was thrust straight into the action by Burgess, making his Wire debut on Friday night in their 22-4 home defeat against Hull KR.
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Warrington Wolves boss Sam Burgess passes judgement on new recruit John Bateman’s debut
26-time England international Bateman, who also has four appearances for Great Britain on his CV, came on from the interchange bench just after the 20-minute mark at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
In doing so, he made a first Super League appearance since September 2022, when Wigan Warriors were beaten in the play-off semi-finals by Leeds Rhinos.
Warrington boss Burgess said: “He’s come off a long flight… he got in Monday, trained Tuesday and he’s living in a hotel at the moment.
“He’s not settled in by any means, that’s our job to get him settled in, but I thought he was great.
“You can see how good he’s going to be… he competes, and he’s only going to get better, give him two or three weeks in the shirt.
“He played 60 minutes without any worries, he’s going to be great for us.”
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Burgess discusses complex positional decision
During his Wolves debut, Bateman shifted around the field, with Burgess re-jigging things throughout and asking his new recruit to slot into a few different positions.
Having lined up alongside one another on seven occasions for England between October 2016 and June 2018, the pair know each other well, and Burgess knows the utility value that Bateman offers.
Admitting that the Bradfordian’s role in his team may not be cast in stone for a while yet, Burgess said: “He’s good anywhere, he can play anywhere John.
“I’ve played with him at left centre outside me, he’s played left back-row and I’m in the middle, I’ve played with him when I’m the edge and he’s the middle… I know he can do all of those roles great, because I’ve played next to him in all of them.
“It’s just whatever fits us best moving forward, and we might not know that for a few more weeks yet.
“What (having him) does, it gives us an opportunity to rest a couple of guys over the next few weeks and give him some time in our system.
“I’ve got some decisions to make then, and it’s going to be pretty tough.”
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