The pals from Bradford will be reunited next season when the latter joins up with NRL side Canberra from Wigan.
Whitehead will put Bateman up in the Australian capital once he switches to the other side of the world after facing New Zealand.
And he says his pal will have his work cut out, off the field as much as on it.
The 29-year-old said: “John will have to cook and clean and walk my dogs every day as well.
“I hope his cooking is better than mine but my missus is there too so she’ll be looking after us both and will probably be giving me headaches.
“We’ll kick him out after three months once he finds his feet!”
Whitehead is the established NRL star but believes the new arrival has what it takes to follow in his footsteps.
First he will line up in the back row for England alongside Bateman, who was used as a centre by boss Wayne Bennett in last year’s World Cup.
Not bad for a lad who thought he would never even make the professional game and one who may be tapping up fellow Canberra new boy and former electrician Ryan Sutton for tips.
“Australia takes some getting used to, the heat is a major factor,” Whitehead added. “It takes some long days to get your fitness levels up too. You go home and sleep and it feels like you train-sleep, train-sleep but it’s worth it in the end.
“Playing in the NRL is a real privilege, especially for a lad from Bradford who thought he’d never play professional rugby league.
“When Bradford got rid of me and I became an electrician at 18 I thought I wouldn’t make it. I did six months and didn’t finish my qualifications – Ryan can teach me how to finish my courses!
“Back-row is John’s favoured position but over the last few years he’s not really played there. He’s showed what he’s capable of doing in Super League so hopefully he can do it and have a really good Test series.
“A lot of people talk bad about Canberra then fall in love with the place. It’s what you make of it. I played in 38 degrees in my first game, so I hope John’s ready for it.
“John’s one of those kids who makes sure he competes week in, week out. I spoke to him a few times and I thought if he didn’t take the chance to go over either this year or next, he might look back and regret it.
“I know what type of person he is and I’ve every faith that he’ll become a star out there.”
One thing Bateman has been warned off doing, however, is slipping into using Aussie phrases. The Burgess brothers regularly start answers with, ‘Aww,’ and Whitehead revealed Canberra pal Josh Hodgson is guilty of it.
He said: “When we come into England camp, if you say an Aussie word you get hammered. Josh talks a lot of Aussie now, he’s saying soccer instead of football – disgraceful. A lad from Hull doing that, it’s not good and I pick him up on it all the time.
“He also said his young kid was kicking a ‘footy’ around. I was like, ‘Oh a round ball?’ He goes, ‘No, a rugby ball.’ John’s got to steer clear of that.”
Source: Read Full Article