Huddersfield Giants could be a Super League force, reckons John Bateman

The forward – back at Wigan after two years in the NRL with Canberra – is confident the Warriors are well-equipped to land silverware.

But he doesn’t expect it all to go their way, predicting fans should expect a fiercely competitive Super League.

And among the sides he expects to be showing their quality are Huddersfield Giants, who swooped to land coach Ian Watson from Salford in the off-season.

Bateman, 27, said: “You look at all the squads in Super League and there’s quality throughout, and that’s what you want as a player – they make for better games and that makes you better as players.

“The one for me is Huddersfield, they look like they’ve done well.

“Ian Watson has gone there and he’s made some good signing to be fair. I think they’ll be really competitive this season.”

Elsewhere, he predicts some familiar faces will be jostling for play-offs spots.

“Saints are always going to be there. You can never write them off, they have a strong team and coaching staff,” he said. “Hull look like they’ve recruited well and Warrington were already a good side and they’ve got a coach (Steve Price) who’ll want to leave in the best possible way and brought in Greg Inglis.”