Manly are mulling over a move for English back-rower John Bateman as they look to save him from the threat of NRL purgatory at the Wests Tigers.
This masthead understands that while any move is still in its infancy, the Sea Eagles have begun exploring the possibility of bringing Bateman to Sydney’s Northern Beaches as they look to strengthen their premiership aspirations.
Bateman has two years remaining on his deal at the Tigers but it is understood they would not stand in his way should he find another club.
The English back-rower finished last season on loan at Super League side Warrington and there was talk that he would stay there rather than return to Sydney.
However, it is understood Bateman – currently in England for their Test series against Samoa – wants to remain in the NRL and Manly may offer him the chance to move to a premiership contender.
The Tigers are unlikely to put up a fight. Tigers chief executive Shane Richardson last week made clear the club’s frustrations with Bateman, insisting he would face consequences unless he fell into line behind Marshall after the pair had a documented falling out.
The 31-year-old is believed to be on about $650,000 a season and the Tigers would likely need to contribute over the next two years to make a deal viable.
Again, that isn’t expected to prevent the move going ahead if Manly decide to crystallise their interest by opening talks with the Tigers.
The Sea Eagles are in a premiership window and, should they press ahead with their pursuit of Bateman, it would arm them with another weapon in their forward pack.
He showed flashes of his best at the Tigers over the past two years but struggled to find any consistency as the club finished the season with a third successive wooden spoon.
Whispers of a potential move for Bateman have been circulating in England, where he will be a key figure for the national side against Samoa.
Interestingly, the Samoan side is led by Penrith superstar Jarome Luai, who was set to be a teammate of Bateman’s at the Tigers next season.
They may find themselves on opposing teams now as Manly circle Bateman, who may not be the only Tigers player on the move this off-season.
The club has also made it clear that the likes of Jayden Sullivan, Brent Naden and Charlie Staines are free to leave if they can find another home.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Makes sense given Manly are an Isaac Moses club
@russtutty63 we had a very good (maybe only good) front rower and back rower and they are going + we want our pommy back rower not to be there. Even with these guys we came last for a third year. Unfortunately I don’t see Luai being able to drag us off the bottom and I have concerns about turuva (maybe another Staines). We are treading water at the bottom of the pool and our overall squad talent is decreasing
Well, already for next season we are bringing in 5 new recruits so the new Coach, Richo etc are trying to right the wrongs of what went before them. But they are in competition with other clubs wanting to improve or maintain their success so no easy task. And Ice was good those last 7 rounds, post injury, so unfortunately the timing of his form didn’t help us in deciding whether or not to keep him. I think most fans before his injury could understand the club letting him go.@russtutty63 we had a very good (maybe only good) front rower and back rower and they are going + we want our pommy back rower not to be there. Even with these guys we came last for a third year. Unfortunately I don’t see Luai being able to drag us off the bottom and I have concerns about turuva (maybe another Staines). We are treading water at the bottom of the pool and our overall squad talent is decreasing
Well, already for next season we are bringing in 5 new recruits so the new Coach, Richo etc are trying to right the wrongs of what went before them. But they are in competition with other clubs wanting to improve or maintain their success so no easy task.@russtutty63 we had a very good (maybe only good) front rower and back rower and they are going + we want our pommy back rower not to be there. Even with these guys we came last for a third year. Unfortunately I don’t see Luai being able to drag us off the bottom and I have concerns about turuva (maybe another Staines). We are treading water at the bottom of the pool and our overall squad talent is decreasing
Our forward pack has gone backwards since last season for a squad that ran last, further external help is needed.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
I really don’t know who should be in that top 25 but I’m certainly ok if the 3 I mentioned were not & they were replaced with better players. Tumeth I’m sure will go, he’d be in minimum so not a lot lost & would free up a spot. I think Tony Sukkar on minimum is worth having in the top 25, in that 20-25 group. I’m ok to watch the other 5 develop this year as it’s highly unlikely they’ll play more than a few games each & on minimum isn’t taking up a great deal of cap space. Get that top 24 or 25 players right. Having Tony Sukkar in that top 25 wouldn’t stop me from having a crack at Nikora or Wilton for 2026. I assume Tony is only contracted for 2025 so it’d be up to him to show he deserves another contract in 2026.I’m not sure what too many is or too little or how many is a good number. But you’re right in that the top 20 should consist of genuine 1st grade talent. How many kids are in our top 20? I don’t know, would assume Galvin, Luke L, Latu & TDS. I guess Sam could also be put in that category. Not a bad bunch to be honest. There are probably another 5 or 6 outside that top 20 who still yet to earn their stripes, still very much in that development phase. We are a development club, or in the process of becoming one as it’s our only way of achieving sustained success, but because of the lack of success we need it now. If you have a top 24 or 25 that are genuine 1st grade talent then having 5 or 6 twenty year olds on minimum isn’t such a bad thing. It’s those 25 players who will play the majority of games. The trick is getting the best 24 or 25 you can. It’s actually the Batemans, Sullivan, Nadens etc, the supposedly genuine NRL talent that underperforms that is more the issue.Yep, some won’t make it and some will be moved on but there are very few players who make it at 19 especially forwards. Most debut at 20 or 21. Kit is same size as Cotter, he won’t be as good as him but he could still be a good NRL player. Cotter made 5 appearances as a 19 year old and 16 more over the following 2 years. it wasn’t really until he was 22 that he found his level that he is now. I’m just using him as a comparison. Unfortunately for the Tigers we are impatient because we’re coming off such a low base, we want to see something good now. If we don’t we don’t think they could still develop into a good player so move them on. Let’s see what some of these guys can do this year then make a judgement, let them develop some more.@russtutty63 but we have too many young players. It's crazy.
Matamua - I can see him playing 200 games at another club. We've straight out butchered his development. I hope he is still with us in 2025 but it must be unlikely. Has always dominated reggies but never got NRL minutes on a consistent level.
Kit Laulilii - not big enough for the NRL. Modern day Brendan Santi in my opinion.
Faagutu - injured for large chunks of last year. Managed by Isaac Moses and in his final contract year. He'll be on the move to an Isaac-aligned club soon enough.
I wouldn't call it impatience, this club simply can't continue to run last. the improvement needs to start now. At this point we have too many kids in our squad. We also have too many players that you would like falling into the lower section of your squad in our top 20 players.
Chris Faagutu, Josh Feledy, Kit Laulilii, Justin Matamua, Jordan Miller, Solomone Saukuru, Tony Sukkar and Brandon Tumeth are all guys we have in our top 30 that were upgraded too early and are limiting our ability to upgrade our squad. A lot of these guys had automatic upgrades to top 30 written into their junior contracts.
Adam Doueihi, Brent Naden, Alex Seyfarth, Charlie Staines, Starford To'a and Alex Twal are all guys you would like to see in your 20-25
Then you have guys like Jayden Sullivan and John Bateman who you don't want in first grade.
These are all guys you only want called on when injuries hit, I'm maybe being a little harsh on Seyfarth so outside of him that is 15 players in your top 30 you want having minimal involvement in your season. We can't even field a 17 without using those players.
You also have players like Klemm (nearing the end) Olam and Bird (both have serious injury doubts.
Our top 30 is severely unbalanced and we need to move some of these players on to improve the squad.
I hate to say it by @avo is right, we should never have extended Toa and Twal, these decisions are biting us now.
If Manly are seriously after Bateman (their window is about to shut with DCE on his last legs) then I’d take Bullemor and probably Lodge.
I really don’t know who should be in that top 25 but I’m certainly ok if the 3 I mentioned were not & they were replaced with better players. Tumeth I’m sure will go, he’d be in minimum so not a lot lost & would free up a spot. I think Tony Sukkar on minimum is worth having in the top 25, in that 20-25 group. I’m ok to watch the other 5 develop this year as it’s highly unlikely they’ll play more than a few games each & on minimum isn’t taking up a great deal of cap space. Get that top 24 or 25 players right. Having Tony Sukkar in that top 25 wouldn’t stop me from having a crack at Nikora or Wilton for 2026. I assume Tony is only contracted for 2025 so it’d be up to him to show he deserves another contract in 2026.I’m not sure what too many is or too little or how many is a good number. But you’re right in that the top 20 should consist of genuine 1st grade talent. How many kids are in our top 20? I don’t know, would assume Galvin, Luke L, Latu & TDS. I guess Sam could also be put in that category. Not a bad bunch to be honest. There are probably another 5 or 6 outside that top 20 who still yet to earn their stripes, still very much in that development phase. We are a development club, or in the process of becoming one as it’s our only way of achieving sustained success, but because of the lack of success we need it now. If you have a top 24 or 25 that are genuine 1st grade talent then having 5 or 6 twenty year olds on minimum isn’t such a bad thing. It’s those 25 players who will play the majority of games. The trick is getting the best 24 or 25 you can. It’s actually the Batemans, Sullivan, Nadens etc, the supposedly genuine NRL talent that underperforms that is more the issue.Yep, some won’t make it and some will be moved on but there are very few players who make it at 19 especially forwards. Most debut at 20 or 21. Kit is same size as Cotter, he won’t be as good as him but he could still be a good NRL player. Cotter made 5 appearances as a 19 year old and 16 more over the following 2 years. it wasn’t really until he was 22 that he found his level that he is now. I’m just using him as a comparison. Unfortunately for the Tigers we are impatient because we’re coming off such a low base, we want to see something good now. If we don’t we don’t think they could still develop into a good player so move them on. Let’s see what some of these guys can do this year then make a judgement, let them develop some more.@russtutty63 but we have too many young players. It's crazy.
Matamua - I can see him playing 200 games at another club. We've straight out butchered his development. I hope he is still with us in 2025 but it must be unlikely. Has always dominated reggies but never got NRL minutes on a consistent level.
Kit Laulilii - not big enough for the NRL. Modern day Brendan Santi in my opinion.
Faagutu - injured for large chunks of last year. Managed by Isaac Moses and in his final contract year. He'll be on the move to an Isaac-aligned club soon enough.
I wouldn't call it impatience, this club simply can't continue to run last. the improvement needs to start now. At this point we have too many kids in our squad. We also have too many players that you would like falling into the lower section of your squad in our top 20 players.
Chris Faagutu, Josh Feledy, Kit Laulilii, Justin Matamua, Jordan Miller, Solomone Saukuru, Tony Sukkar and Brandon Tumeth are all guys we have in our top 30 that were upgraded too early and are limiting our ability to upgrade our squad. A lot of these guys had automatic upgrades to top 30 written into their junior contracts.
Adam Doueihi, Brent Naden, Alex Seyfarth, Charlie Staines, Starford To'a and Alex Twal are all guys you would like to see in your 20-25
Then you have guys like Jayden Sullivan and John Bateman who you don't want in first grade.
These are all guys you only want called on when injuries hit, I'm maybe being a little harsh on Seyfarth so outside of him that is 15 players in your top 30 you want having minimal involvement in your season. We can't even field a 17 without using those players.
You also have players like Klemm (nearing the end) Olam and Bird (both have serious injury doubts.
Our top 30 is severely unbalanced and we need to move some of these players on to improve the squad.
I hate to say it by @avo is right, we should never have extended Toa and Twal, these decisions are biting us now.
The problem is and the point I am trying to make is our roster still needs upgrading for 25 and 26 and due to poor decisions with junior players and fringe first graders we are having difficulty doing that.
Yes we are a development club but we need to make better decisions around which juniors we give top 30 spots to and which fringe NRL players we resign.
Was it 37 players we used in 2024? We can not afford to be carrying players that do not contribute to the NRL side.
Tony Sukkar has a club option for 2026 but he was top 30 in 2024 and didn't contribute , we have made some poor decisions on which players to put into our top 30.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
I know a lot of these mistakes were made by the previous admin, and we will still have issues with some of their poor decisions for the next couple of years.
I am just pointing out throwing out we are development club doesn't justify some of the decisions we have made around our top 30 squad. Our roster is in a terrible spot and it is going to take Richo time to fix.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
Last point Rusty, you pointed out earlier that we are impatient and aren't giving the junior players the opportunity to develop. That is because they have been signed to top 30 spots too early, if they were still on development, flegg or second tier contracts then you could afford to give them time to develop but right now they are on top 30 contracts and need to be contributing to the NRL squad.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
@russtutty63 yep fully agree, but as Steve (I think) always says we can’t have players go and replace them with similar or lesser player's, aside from Luai I can’t see an overall squad improvement. I know it’s a new admin/coach etc in their first full year but supporters are looking for improvement to a squad that has come last for 3 years and unfortunately the current squad could make it 4 or at least bottom 4 is likely.
I would expect that a Bateman departure would create a spot for Rudolph.
Could be interesting week ahead, though we’ve been teased a lot in recent times with possible trades that haven’t come to anything.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
I would expect that a Bateman departure would create a spot for Rudolph.
Could be interesting week ahead, though we’ve been teased a lot in recent times with possible trades that haven’t come to anything.
Bateman's departure won't create a space for Rudolf.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
I would expect that a Bateman departure would create a spot for Rudolph.
Could be interesting week ahead, though we’ve been teased a lot in recent times with possible trades that haven’t come to anything.
Bateman's departure won't create a space for Rudolf.
Well, based on what we know at present.
Wests Tigers Podcast - Talking everything Wests Tigers!
I would expect that a Bateman departure would create a spot for Rudolph.
Could be interesting week ahead, though we’ve been teased a lot in recent times with possible trades that haven’t come to anything.
Bateman's departure won't create a space for Rudolf.
Well, based on what we know at present.
Brandon Tumeth has a player option so that puts us at 31 players.
In memory of Geoff Chisholm (1965-2022)
