FROM playing amateur rugby for Bradford Dudley Hill to representing Wigan on the big stage, John Bateman has certainly come a long way these past few years.

The boyhood Bulls fan grew up watching his hometown club win Grand Finals at Old Trafford and will today hope to realise a childhood dream by lifting the Super League trophy himself.

The 23-year-old has proved an outstanding success since the Bulls sold him to Wigan at the end of the 2013 campaign.

Bateman went for around £70,000 – a ludicrously cheap price for a player who had already captained England’s academy team in Australia the year before.

Yet Bateman has not looked back since joining Shaun Wane’s side and has proved himself one of the best players in Super League.

Having lost at Old Trafford to St Helens and Leeds in the past two seasons, the England international is aiming to make it third time lucky against Warrington in this evening’s title decider.

Warrington have an abundance of class in their ranks and Wigan are missing a clutch of key players including brothers Sam and Joel Tomkins.

Yet the Warriors have an indomitable spirit that few sides can match, according to Bateman.

“The desire that is instilled in every player here makes Wigan what they are,” said the skilful, tough-tackling second-rower.

“You can have all the skill in the world but you need that willingness to work hard and put your body on the line.

“That will get you your rewards and things are happening for us at the moment.

“You talk about desire but I can go from one to seventeen and list qualities in every player.

“That's what you need and when you put that skill together with the desire, that's when you get somewhere.

“We've got one more big push now on Saturday and hopefully we can get over the line.”

Bateman has a tight-knit family and his daughter Millie provides him with added inspiration as she is a regular at Wigan games.

Bateman added: “It would be great to see Millie and the rest of my family in the crowd at the end knowing we've won the game.

“It would be for them because my family probably get the worse of it when things aren't going well.

“If I play badly, they get it in the ear as if it's their fault.

“It's occasions like this that you want to repay your family for everything they do for you.

“I was taken here, there and everywhere as a kid so I want to give something back and it’s great to have Millie there watching me.

“When I was a young lad at Bradford, I used to see people taking their kids with them.

“For me to be able to do that with Mille gives her some great memories to look back on when she is older because I do what I do for her.

“She just tells me to score all the time, although I don't think she knows too much about rugby because she falls asleep during most of the games!

“But she's always awake when we are winning and I love her so much, so that's all that matters.”

Bateman was arguably the Super League’s outstanding player and a prime contender for the Man of Steel award this season until he got embroiled in an incident involving a team-mate in Wigan town centre.

Wigan handed him a two-month suspension and a £10,000 fine but he has since returned to the side and recaptured his best form.

Bateman said: “It is what is it but it’s happened now and we move on.

“There have been some ups and downs but this has been my best season.”

Bateman is regularly back in Bradford to visit friends and family and is looking forward to being reunited with former Bulls team-mates during the Four Nations.

“I've been speaking to Elliott Whitehead and it will be good to link up with him, the Burgess boys and Luke Gale again,” said Bateman.

“There is a big group of us ex-Bradford lads and I'm looking forward to seeing them all.

“Elliott is one of my closest mates and to see what he's done out there at Canberra, I'm proud of him.

“It's good because he deserves it. I'd probably like to play in Australia at some point in the future because I want to test myself against the best.

“But I've got some big things I want to do over here first and Wigan is the best club I've played for.

“They are a big family club and are there for you whenever you need them.

“When you've got a great bunch of lads who put their bodies on the line for each other, you can't ask for any more than that.”