Cummins the hour, Cummins the man: Canberra Raiders star John Bateman backs ref

But the Raiders star second-rower then reflected it was the Green Machine that lost last year's decider not the referees.

Cummins infamously called "six again" only to change his mind after Canberra five-eighth Jack Wighton was tackled, leading to a handover - and the Roosters going straight up the other end to score the winning try.

Bateman said the drama had created a good rivalry between the teams ahead of their NRL semi-final at the SCG on Friday night.

The NRL will announce the match officials for the blockbuster on Tuesday.

"I hope he gets in charge because hopefully he doesn't do a decision like that again," Bateman laughed.

"But I'm not too fussed who it is to be fair.

"That decision to us didn't - we lost the game ourselves, that didn't lose us the game. It could've swung it a bit for us, but we lost the game ourselves.

"We had opportunities that we should've took. Cronk went for 10 minutes [in the sin bin] and they had a hooker that hadn't played many games, Sam Verrills, and he played very well for them.

"It wasn't any decisions like that. It's become a pretty good rivalry over the last year or so going from there."

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A candid Bateman also revealed how tough this year has been - unable to see his family, and especially his daughter Millie, who are all back in England.

If someone had told him he'd go 10 months without seeing them the he never would have come Down Under in the first place.

His daughter was due to visit during her school holidays earlier in the year, but the coronavirus pandemic put an end to that.

Bateman's grandfather was also unwell during the season, as the England international struggled with two rounds of shoulder surgery.

It had him fretting and feeling hopeless from the other side of the world.

"It's probably one of the toughest years I've had ... it's one of those years that has been a bit up and down," Bateman said.

"I was really looking forward to my family coming over this year. People say you knew what you were doing when you came to Australia.

"But if I'd got on the plane and someone said you wouldn't see your family for 10 months I wouldn't have done it.

"The longer and longer it goes the worse it gets. It's pretty tough to be honest.

"My little girl's had 10 months without her dad she's never going to get back and I'm never going to get back as well.

"It's her birthday on Friday as well so it's just pretty shit."

The 27-year-old did a lap of Canberra Stadium following the Raiders' 32-20 victory over Cronulla on Saturday.

It's the last time he'll play in the ACT before returning to Wigan at the end of the season.

An emotional Bateman wanted to say goodbye to the fans after two seasons in lime green.

"Yeah knowing that it was going to be my last game at Canberra, I've had some great memories and I've loved it since I've been here," he said.

"It's been great to me. I'm disappointed you can't go up to fans with what's going on - I'd love to be able to do that.

"I just wanted to take it all in and appreciate everyone being there.

"I always put my all into it and since I've got here that's all I wanted to do. That's part of it, what it means to me being here."

Bateman said while family was important, the reason he was returning to the English Super League was because he couldn't get a deal done to keep him here.

It has many Raiders fans wondering what could have been given the impact the popular Pom has had both on and off the field in his short time in Canberra.

"People are saying, 'You're going home for your daughter', but a big reason I'm going home is because I couldn't agree on a deal here. Simple as that," Bateman said.

"One of the reasons I'm going home is to see my family and my daughter, but it's [also] because I couldn't agree on a deal.

"I didn't want to feel like I'm going somewhere else just for money. Wigan showed an interest and reached out to me ... and showed they wanted me."

In Bateman standards, he had a quiet game offensively against the Sharks with just 62 run metres and one tackle bust - but he did make 42 tackles.

He felt both he and fellow second-rower Elliott Whitehead didn't get that much ball and would need to have more of an impact against the Roosters.

On the flipside, he said both halves, George Williams and Jack Wighton, starred to get them home against the Sharks.

"This week we're going to have to get involved a bit more," Bateman said.

"But then you had Jack and George who were running the ball well for us and played really well.

"It's a team game and we all need to make sure we're at a good level this week, and we'll go from there."

NRL SEMI-FINAL

Friday: Canberra Raiders v Sydney Roosters at the SCG, 7.50pm.