Dual international Lote Tuqiri has backed John Bateman to make an immediate impact, like he did, in his return to the NRL with Wests Tigers after arriving from England just days before the club’s opening match.
“I don’t know if he will score a try on his first touch, but I’m sure he will get the job done,” said Tuqiri, who joined Wests Tigers from Leicester rugby union club on the eve of the 2010 season.
Bateman, who previously played for Canberra, has finally received visa approval to travel to Australia and is expected to meet his new Wests Tigers team-mates later this week as they prepare for the Round 1 clash with the Titans on March 5.
Round 1 rewind: Tuqiri scores his first try back in the NRL
The England World Cup second-rower has been training on his own after securing a release from Wigan in December and Wests Tigers coach Tim Sheens insists there is no rush to play him but Tuqiri believes Bateman will be ready for Round 1.
The former Kangaroos and Wallabies winger played for Wests Tigers after just one field session in 2010, while Sonny Bill Williams arrived from Japan to join Sydney Roosters just days before his NRL comeback in 2013.
“It was pretty easy on the wing but John Bateman plays in the second-row so it will be a bit different for him,” Tuqiri said. “But he is a tried-and-true professional who has played in the NRL before, so he knows what to expect.
“Tim Sheens has been around for a long time, he has coached the likes of Craig Bellamy and Todd Payten, and he will know how to get the best out of John Bateman.
"I am really looking forward to seeing how he goes because I think Wests Tigers are going to have a big year.”
Tuqiri, who won premierships with the Broncos in 2000 and Rabbitohs in 2014, was lured back to the NRL by Sheens in 2010 after switching codes in 2003 and playing 67 Tests for the Wallabies.
After a finishing a stint with Leicester Tigers in England, Tuqiri arrived in Sydney just days before Wests Tigers’ opening premiership match against Manly and spent most of the lead up studying a play book that Sheens had given him.
“I didn’t do much ballwork,” Tuqiri recalled. “I flew in on Wednesday and went to meet the boys and watch them train on Thursday.
"Friday was a day off, Saturday was my first training session but we didn’t do much, then Sunday I did the captain’s run and we played on Monday. It was really cool.
Tim is a coach who instils confidence in players.
"That is what he did with me. He said get yourself feeling right, take away this book to look at and I just had a few meetings with him.
“He is very, very clinical in what he does and there is a lot of stuff you have to read. That was good for me, and I did read it, but I have to admit I didn’t take too much of it in.
“I was just lucky that I had Chris Lawrence inside me, and he was a good talker. Benji Marshall was the other side of him, and Robbie Farah was a big talker too, so they made sure I knew what was going on.
“I think it is a good set-up with Benji and Robbie on the coaching staff with Tim. You have got three blokes who communicate differently, and I think they will make it easy for John Bateman to slot straight into the side.”
After eight seasons away from the NRL, Tuqiri admitted he had been nervous before his first match with Wests Tigers but scoring so early helped settle him down.
“I knew the play that we put on because we had practised it at the captain’s run and Chris Lawrence just said ‘stay outside me. I am going to try and get away on the short side, draw the winger and get the ball to you’," he said.
“Lo-and-behold, it worked that way and that just calmed my nerves right down. It was a really good way for me to say, ‘I’m back’. We celebrated and ended up winning the game that night.
“We didn’t have too bad a year, we were beaten by St George Illawarra by one point in the game before the grand final and they went on to win it.”
Williams made his return to the NRL with Sydney Roosters in their much-hyped 2013 season opener against South Sydney from the interchange bench and started his next 23 matches, including the 26-18 grand final triumph against Manly.
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Sheens is believed to considering a similar approach for Round 1 with Bateman, who – like Williams – plays in the second-row.