Raider rejects release claim Bateman caught up in contract saga

ALL hell broke loose at the Canberra Raiders over the weekend when a tweet appeared on social media, supposedly from the Twitter account of English forward John Bateman, in which his chief executive Don Furner was labelled a “dickhead”.

Furner had appeared on Fox Sports on Saturday afternoon to confirm the club had given the Dally M second-rower of the year permission to test his value on the NRL open market.

Then this tweet appeared from what appeared to be Bateman’s account: “Yeah well Don is a dickhead too. And I only asked for a release once, no 4 times like cueball (Fox Sports reporter James Hooper) suggested. They are full of (poo emoji). #DitchDon.”

Furner rang Bateman and his manager Isaac Moses straight away. They declared it was a fake tweet.

“I swear it wasn’t me,” Bateman told me. “I haven’t got a clue where it came from. Someone has tried to set me up.

“I’d never say anything like that about Don. I like him.”

It appears Bateman’s Twitter handle was photoshopped onto a fake account then sent out with the offending message.

Bateman also took the opportunity to set the record straight on his recent contract dealings in the national capital following the report he had asked for a release four times since last season.

“I have a renegotiation clause in my contract at the end of each year,” Bateman said. “I honestly don’t want to go anywhere but we had a chat.

“Don has been straight up and honest with me. He said the club had Origin and international bonuses to pay and upgrades to do ... and gave us permission to go and talk elsewhere. He didn’t have to do that. I appreciate it.”

After Hooper broke the story on Friday, Bateman attacked the Fox Sports journalist on Twitter.

It read: “You better stick to polishing that bald head big fella because your (poo emoji) at being a journo. Never once have I asked for a release. Bullshit story #fakenews.”

Bateman stands by the fact he hasn’t asked for a release.

“I guess that tweet didn’t help,” he said. “But I wasn’t happy. I have not asked for a release. I’m not having someone accuse me of something I haven’t done.”

Bateman said it was critical his negotiations didn’t have an unsettling effect on the team.

“Imagine the lads questioning me about not wanting to be here the week before we play,” he said. “It’s not true. I’m not going to let them down. I told them if it was to change and I was going anywhere, they’d be the first to know.”

Asked if we wanted to test the market, Bateman said: “I’d prefer to stay in Canberra but if Donny’s saying they haven’t got the money … what do I do? All football players need some security.”

Bateman is on $580,000 at the Raiders this year and $600,000 next year. His agent has told him he could earn $800,000 at another club.