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“Not worth risking” – Benji play it safe | 02:56
John Bateman believes he was made a scapegoat by the Tigers and took issue with the club for not shutting down reports of a feud with Benji Marshall.
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Bateman still had two years remaining on a four-year contract with the Tigers, before cutting ties with the club to switch to the Cowboys for the next two seasons.
However, Bateman told The Sydney Morning Herald that he intended to honour his Tigers deal and was disappointed with the club for not publicly denied the rift with Marshall earlier.
“I had all intentions of going back, [even though] the club may have had a different view on that,” Bateman told The Sydney Morning Herald.
“When I got to England, I was seeing all these stories [about my relationship with Marshall].
“I was pretty disappointed it wasn’t shut down earlier by the club. Benji came out four months later to say we never had an argument, but that could have been shut down a lot earlier.
“I didn’t have any blow-ups or an argument with Benji or anything like that.
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“The last time I spoke to him, we had a chat about moving forward, about what we want, and the opportunity that Warrington had given me. That was the last time I spoke to him.
“I didn’t hear from anyone once I got to England about coming back. I didn’t hear anything when I was signed [by the Cowboys] in the pre-season.
“When I went to England, I didn’t speak to anyone [at the Tigers] after that. It’s pretty bizarre.”
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Bateman was also critical of the club’s junior development and felt he and Luke Brooks were made to be the scapegoat for disappointing on-field performances.
“I wanted the kids to learn,” Bateman said.
“They have a great bunch of kids there. At times, I didn’t feel like they were learning how I wanted them to learn, and I wanted them to get better.
“I refer back to [former Tigers halfback] Luke Brooks. The period I thought Brooksy should have been playing State of Origin and for Australia, he got caught in that trap of being there, and he didn’t pick anything else up, and he was made the scapegoat for years and years.
“I got a bit of that [feeling like the scapegoat] last year, but we move on.
“I never regret anything. I wish the club all the best. I still have a lot of good mates at that club.”
