I wonder if the club will actually say why Bateman isn't in the squad tonight or just hope that all this just goes away?

Wane did. Just that Bateman was unavailable for selection

Would it matter as long as it did all go away?

I don't expect to hear anything until its been dealt with and finalised. If there is one criticism you could level at the club, its their reluctance to engage with the supporters. There's supposed to have been a regular season game in London - time's running out and yet nothing has been said to say that it wont happen. The date/time of the Easter Monday Fixture was kept under wraps. The changing of the Salford game was rumoured on here before the club announced it. The list goes on and on.

A simple statement that "Due to an incident last Friday, (player) has been suspended and will not be available for selection until (Date)" would have sufficed, yet they make a charade of naming someone in the 19 man squad, then suddenly he becomes unavailable, but SW is unable to explain why he's become unavailable since Wednesday at 2pm when he was available. If the investigation has been concluded, then let everyone know. If it hasn't, he is either suspended and unavailable, or he is not suspended and available.

In a case like this it is normally inappropriate to comment or name players even though it is obvious who is involved. I'd agree with your criticism in general but not in a case like this where an investigation is ongoing and the possibility of the police getting involved.

Surely Bateman wasn't the only one involved or ha hum unavailable

That's correct, if there is an ongoing investigation involving an incident with two players then both should be unavailable, it takes two to tango. If a fight occurs during a game both aggressor & retaliator tend to get shown the red card and both face disciplinary hearings.

This situation is a little different though. You tend not to take to the pitch 'tooled up'.

And the fact it happened off a rugby pitch, would probably mean that police investigations could be taking place, and those involved might be best kept apart while those are ongoing...

I think you've got us there.

The decision not to suspend both players allegedly involved is clearly part of an ongoing Cherry and White conspiracy to irritate Leigh RL, which as you know is Wigan's highest priority.

I usually irritate Leythers by reminding them of their constant need to travel to Atherton train station.