'We're trying to save your leg': Bateman survives brush with spider

Everything in Australia wants to kill you!

English forward John Bateman can confirm the worst fears of many tourists after surviving a spider bite that almost cost him his left leg.

Bateman spent four nights in hospital after being bitten by a spider during a training session and while he can laugh about it now the Cowboys star was in shock when a doctor told him: “We’re trying to save your leg”.

“I think it [the spider] was on the field, and it bit me on my leg. I wasn’t too sure what it was, I’ve never had to worry about that before,” Bateman told 42025.com.

“I had a rough sleep on Wednesday night, and I literally got rushed to hospital on Thursday morning.

It was pretty bad. I was just hot and cold, and my leg from above my knee to beneath my ankle went all red, so I was pretty worried.

“But when I got into the hospital, I just said to the doctor, ‘just make sure I’m ready for the game on Saturday’.

“Then on the Friday morning he came back in, because they had taken bloods, and he said, ‘mate, there is no chance of you playing, we’re just looking to save your leg’.”

The incident occurred in Perth ahead of the Cowboys match against the Rabbitohs and Bateman said his family here and at home were worried until he was released from hospital.

“They were just as shocked as I was, but I was in the best place and it’s a credit to Perth Hospital,” he said.

“I got away in one piece, but it was a real ‘welcome to Australia’, put it that way.”

Bateman has previously played for the Raiders and Wests Tigers but he chose to join the Cowboys in his third NRL stint after speaking with coach Todd Payten and fullback Scott Drinkwater.

The chance to experience a different lifestyle in Townsville was also appealing.

However, he is aware of the dangers in North Queensland and refuses to go swimming at the beach.

“Not a chance," Bateman said. "Everyone keeps saying, ‘oh it's alright, like they have got nets and stuff’ but I’m not risking it. I’m not willing to risk it.

Crocodiles, boxed jellyfish, sharks – it’s not for me.

“We've got a pool in the garden so I'm pretty happy with that … that will do us.”

The 31-year-old secondrower admitted he also struggled with the heat and humidity after arriving in Townsville for pre-season training but was now acclimatised.

“I got there on January 2 and for a lad from the north of England it was a lot different to where I’m from,” he said.

“It's not really the sun, it's more the humidity and when you're running you just get fatigued quick. It’s really tough, it zaps the energy out of you and I think it’s so hard to actually get fit in the heat.

“When you get to a certain point, you can normally push through it anywhere else in the world, but because of the humidity it just literally takes it all out of you and you can't continue running.

“I'm sure every other player that's played up in Townsville will vouch for that. You’ve just got to get used to it.”

After missing last weekend's match against the Dolphins with a groin injury, Bateman returns on the right edge for Friday night's clash with the Dragons at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Despite the dangers of Australian wildlife, Bateman said he was enjoying life in North Queensland and playing under Payten at the Cowboys.

"Todd is pretty straight down the line like some of the other coaches I've had - Shaun Wane, Wayne Bennett, and Ricky Stuart. He tells you how it is so you know where you stand and I like that," Bateman said.

"I'd say Townsville as a whole is a working-class place, which is pretty similar to where I am from, and the boys are good lads and a hardworking bunch pretty similar to myself."