The chance of John Bateman being available for Round 1 of the 2023 NRL season with the Wests Tigers has received a boost after his police check was reportedly completed.
As part of obtaining a visa into Australia, a police check must be completed.
Bateman was left in the lurch for months after signing with the Tigers, where he will join a forward pack full of new faces for his second stint in the NRL, with the police check not completed.
Police are understood to have faced a backlog of the checks in recent times, and apologised for the delays.
News Corp are reporting that the check was finally completed this week though, and Bateman, who was a pivotal part of the Canberra Raiders' push to the NRL grand final in 2019 during his first stint down under, could touch down in Australia as early as next week.
It's believed an ankle problem could also have been hampering Bateman, but that it along won't stop him from taking to the field with his teammates when they host the Gold Coast Titans at the end of Round 1 on Sunday, March 5 to open their campaign.
The Tigers will understandably be desperate to have Bateman on the park, with the side attempting to rebound after picking up the wooden spoon last year.
The joint venture come into the new season with Bateman, Isaiah Papali'i and David Klemmer joining incoming premiership-winning and New South Wales State of Origin dummy half Apisai Koroisau headlining their new arrivals.
Bateman's late arrival means he has missed both trial games, and the decision will now be left to Tim Sheens as to whether he might be fit enough to play in Round 1 as part of the new-look side.
Even if he arrives on Monday, he will have less than a fortnight of training with his teammates - who will begin the week by recovering from their second trial against the Raiders on Sunday - to acclimatise and come up to speed at the club.
Bateman has been part of the club's training through video calls, but that can only fill the gap so far, with the experienced Englishman also needing to adjust from the cold English winter to the hot Australian summer or early Autumn, as it will be by the time kick-off rolls around.
Temperatures in Sydney in recent weeks have been particularly brutal, with the World Club Challenge and other trial games on Saturday this week pushed back in an effort to beat the heat.
