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Hodgkin's Lymphoma survivor becomes the third 2020/21 Worcester signing
By Online Editors
Worcester have signed Bristol lock Joe Batley, the 23-year-old whose career was disrupted when diagnosed with stage two Hodgkin’s Lymphoma during the Bears’ Greene King IPA Championship-winning campaign in 2017/18.
He was given the all-clear to resume playing after a course of debilitating chemotherapy and was on loan at Leicester Tigers before the 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership season was interrupted by the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.
After becoming the Warriors' third signing for 2020/21 following the recruitment of Wasps fly-half Billy Searle and Exeter Chiefs and England back row forward Matt Kvesic, along with Bristol coaches Jonathan Thomas and Mark Irish, Batley said: “I know Jonathan Thomas and Mark Irish really well. I have enjoyed working with them over the last three years at Bristol so the chance to continue working with them was something that really excited me.
“I enjoy their coaching ethos and how they want the game to be played so it will be nice to keep that going as well as being in a new environment with a new bunch of boys. From the conversations I have had with Alan Solomons, he’s got a very good vision about what he wants the club to achieve and I want to be part of that.”
Having played his formative rugby for Gosport & Fareham – where his parents and brother are still actively involved – Batley was signed by Gloucester where he developed through the academy to the senior squad before joining Bristol.
Standing 6ft 6ins tall, he has been capped by England at Under-18s and Under-21s and his Sixways arrival was welcomed by Worcester boss Alan Solomons. “He is a big, athletic, young English lock, who has gained representative honours for England at age-grade level.
“He has worked with both Jonathan and Mark which will be of huge benefit as he seeks to make his mark at the club. He is also a first-class bloke and a good team man and I look forward to working with him.”
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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