Quote: Superted "On Bateman, whilst he's shown a lot of promise and potential, a big part of me feels like eventually someone will have enough of his niggle and give him a proper belt - and I have a feeling that he would then suffer from what I like to call the Fieldens....
He's very aggressive with his tackles and runs, but has a lot of cheap, third man niggle in his game that he gets away with, I feel that then gives him the confidence to play above his weight - If Garbutt gave him the Tamou treatment, or someone reacted like Justin Poore did that day to Liam Farrell, I think we see Bateman have a sudden drop off in form.
In years gone by (pre-sanitised Superleague), when forwards were allowed to sort things out on the pitch, a proper forward would have put him back in his place as a jumped up little chav and he'd have been back hanging around outside the shops of Holme Wood long ago.'"
I don't think so. I remember him having a set to with Peacock a few years back and it didn't turn him into a shrinking violet.
He's small for a forward but makes an impact because he plays above his weight. Call it small man syndrome if you like. It will always rile the opposition players and supporters. He's a genuinely tough lad.
He'd certainly improve any SL team whether you like his style or not.
