You already tried 2 seasons ago, with the offer of buying him his own personal Mercedes but he rejected it for his home town club

Bateman is contracted till end of 2014 so we signed him for 4 years last year :/

Well its 2012 now so 2014 isnt so far away. Giving him five years and and getting him tied in till 2017 isnt going to hurt him or us. We dont want to be going the same way as we are doing with Tom Burgess and leaving his signing until the last minute. Tom should have been signed up 12 months back. And look what happened with Wardle.

I guess the danger is that he might well be earning a lot less than most players in the squad. He might well start asking himself why he is playing 1st team but getting paid less than Paul Syke or whoever. I'm sure there will be clubs looking to lure him away if he feels his current salary doesn't reflect his worth to the team.

Very impressed with Crookes so far this season. Another superb cover tackle where he took 10 meters off Myler (I think), made the next tackle from marker and then got back to his wing. Did really well to get under Monaghan for his try and his kick returns are strong. Starting to look a very good player.

lets not forget that Crookes is sponsored by us on here too