John Bateman promises fireworks in Wigan Warriors-St Helens derby

John Bateman has lit the touchpaper for an explosive derby on Friday night, promising a full-throttled aggressive display against St Helens.

By Phil Wilkinson

Published 18th Aug 2021, 07:34 BST- 1 min read

Updated 18th Aug 2021, 07:36 BST

John Bateman hasn't played St Helens since 2018

The forward is counting the days to his first game against Saints since leaving the club at the end of 2018.

The ex-Canberra ace was sidelined for the 24-6 loss earlier this season.

Asked what made this derby so special, he said: “You just want to take someone’s head off don’t you?!

“Anything Wigan-Saints, you want to get stuck in, rip in and hopefully get the win.

“We’re looking forward to getting out there and getting amongst it. We’ve got to turn up physical, minute one to minute 80.

“We’ve got to get into them and make sure they know we’re there, we need to be on. Every individual needs to be on.

“This is massive for us.”

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Wigan head into the game on the back of a 26-14 loss at Hull KR, and having not beaten any of their top-five rivals this year.

“If ever there was a game to get stuck into, it’s this. And they’ll say the same thing I suppose,” said Bateman, who aims to use their six-game home straight as a chance to find their form.

“It’s all about where you finish the season, not where you start. You don’t want to rely on that but we’ve got that previous experience of knowing what to do in these big games.”