Fanboy to teammate - Bradford bond strong as ever at Raiders between John Bateman and Elliott Whitehead

The kid wasn't even 18 years old, but he could play. Whitehead told him to wait at the top of the hill every morning and he'd drive him to Bulls training.

His name was John Bateman.

"He had a little bit more weight on him back in those days, that's why I used to make him walk up the hill to lose a little bit," Whitehead says of Bateman's early professional years about a decade ago.

"John's house was on the way. He was a young kid and he couldn't drive, so I nominated myself to pick him up and I used to get him every morning.

"Even if it were raining I used to say get to top otherwise we'll be late to training. He still has a go at me for that but we built a great friendship and we've still got that friendship now."

Bateman clearly remembers those early mornings, slogging his way uphill into the teeth of West Yorkshire's wintry weather all too well.

"Elliott used to be late the majority of the time and he just wouldn't drive down half the time so I'd have to run up this hill, about 16 I were," Bateman says.

"Try walk up an hill like that and it's pissing it down and windy as hell coming into your face. It's all part of it, I can laugh and joke about it now but I probably called him a lot worse at the time."

Sodden and trembling he'd jump into Whitehead's car, and look in awe upon the man he idolised for years while plying his trade at amateur level for Bradford Dudley Hill.

"It were pretty mad to be fair, I used to go to Bradford and watch him myself," Bateman says.

"I used to remember him driving around in his red Astra. I'd see him pull up and me and my mates were like, 'Oh shit, that's Elliott Whitehead'.

"I went from being a little fan boy to me starting to be getting picked up by him. It was a surreal feeling, I grew up supporting Bradford my whole life and next minute I'm playing for that team and getting picked up by one of the players I've always looked at.

"He's always been a good bloke mate, he's always willing to do something for someone else, he's always willing to look after someone.

"On the pitch I can't sing his praises high enough. I've always looked up to him, I've probably took the most out of his career and put it into my career as well mate."

The future English teammates enjoyed three seasons alongside each other at Bradford before the Bulls financially imploded.

Whitehead played in France for three years before joining the Canberra Raiders while Bateman shipped out to Wigan where he won two English Super League titles.

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At the end of 2018 Batemen joined Whitehead at the Raiders, and the pair were re-uinted.

That old friendship sparked straight back into life, too. Bateman moved in with Whitehead before finding a place of his own to rent - just over his mate's back fence.

And just as well - Whitehead is one of only a handful at the Raiders who can understand what Bateman is saying. He carries his own Yorkshire twang, replete with the frequent omission of definite articles.

But Bateman's accent is on another level.

"I don't know why his accent so strong, I don't know if it's cos he's got a little bit of Wigan in there," Whitehead says.

"The boys still can't understand him, still have to translate to this day. Sometimes they struggle with me as well to be fair.

"Me being here a bit longer than John I've learned to slow down my talking a little bit, otherwise people just look at me like 'what're you on about'. He mumbles a lot more than me."

On the field, no such lack of understanding exists.

Whitehead has missed just two games in five seasons as a Raider, one of which came in last weekend's final-round win over the Sharks when coach Ricky Stuart rested more than half his side.

Bateman has battled injuries in his brief stint at the club, which ends at the conclusion of this season for a move back to Wigan, but when fit he's one of the most unpredictable and effective back rowers in the game.

"He's become an outstanding player, he's up there with the best in the world," Whitehead believes.

"We're going to miss him when he leaves at the end of this year. I've always said when the Raiders were interested in him he was a bloke they had to sign, he's got great potential.

"He's still only young himself, he's coming into his prime now and he's going to be a big loss for us. I wish him all the best and he's got his reasons for going home."

The reasons Bateman is leaving centre largely around the gulf in distance between him and his daughter Millie, who turns 11 this month.

They've been unable to see each other all season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and earlier this year when he asked Millie what he should do next season she simply said "I want you to come home, Dad".

That's been undoubtedly tough for Bateman who was just 16 when Millie was born. But it's not affected his game at all.

He just looks back to those days growing up on the housing estate, and to those days cutting his teeth in the lower leagues as a chubby young kid representing Dudley Hill.

"It's pretty rough [West Bowling], it's a lot different, it was the only thing I knew to be fair," Bateman says.

"Me being a kid and growing up there, that's all you know. That's been me as a kid, that's where my mum brought me and my brother up.

"That's what's made me who I am today. All my mates come from there, it's just one of those places I'd call home no matter what. Whenever I do go home I go back there.

"If I had to take anything from my rugby career it's probably what I learned from Dudley Hill as a kid - never wanting to lose.

"We won quite a few [grand finals] to be honest, we used to play a year above so we played against some pretty good teams and when you look at Super League players now there are quite a few players that we were playing against.

"As a young team we were just a team full of idiots we just didn't want to get beat, we would do anything not to get beat."