The pair tangled as a frustrated Bateman tackled Soliola in the air, giving away a penalty with St Helens moments away from clinching victory over Wigan.

Soliola tripped Bateman up as he tried running back into the defensive line, and the fresh-faced 21-year-old responded by jumping to his feet and grabbing hold of the St Helens hard man.

Never mind the weight advantage he was giving away, or the fearsome reputation Soliola had forged throughout five years in England.

"We had a bit of a run in in that game...we both squared up a little bit," Soliola said.

"His bite's definitely bigger than his bark that's for sure. His energy, his enthusiasm, his passion, that takes over the physical attributes of John, that makes him bigger.

"I've got a lot of respect for John because he lays it all out there for the jersey. Whether that's for England, for Wigan, for Bradford, for Canberra, he puts it all out there and puts all his energy out there on the field, you know he's got your back.

"You can't be mad for someone that gives it his all so I was pretty excited when he came here. It's just a different sort of passion he brings to the group."

Bateman was just 21 years old at the time, but had already developed a reputation himself as a hard-nosed competitor who refused to back down.

Earlier that season he'd squared off against former Great Britain captain Jamie Peacock, once again refusing to contemplate taking a backward step despite a size disadvantage.

Much like Soliola, that run in with Peacock earned Bateman instant respect.

"The biggest compliment I can give John is that the harder it gets, the better he plays," Peacock once said in an interview after he retired from the sport.

"There's not many players like that, when the intensity cranks up, they crank up as well. Those players are like diamonds, if you can get one of them in your team you always have a chance of winning something because they make everybody else play better around them."

That will to win has been one of Bateman's strongest assets in two seasons at the club.

It's no coincidence Canberra made its first grand final in 25 years in Bateman's first season.

The Raiders are hoping he has three matches left in a green jersey, and the only way to maintain that dream is to prevail in Friday's sudden-death semi-final at the Sydney Cricket Ground against last year's premiers, the Sydney Roosters.

He marked Saturday's win over Cronulla with an emotional full-time lap of Canberra Stadium to farewell his adoring local fans. Now Bateman is desperate to extend his short but memorable career at the Raiders for at least another week.

"John's going home which we're pretty gutted about, he's a great player, hopefully we've got three more games together, and we'll try and make the most of that," halfback and former Wigan teammate George Williams said.

"He'll not want to leave with anything else but a [premiership] ring and we all want to do the same thing.

"He's got everyone's respect here, what he did last year he got the boys' respect straight away."

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Raiders captain Jarrod Croker simply described Bateman as "One of a kind".

"He's lifted a lot of the players around here since coming to the squad, having that little edge and having that will to win," Croker said.

"We'd heard a lot about him having that will to win coming from England and when he got here you could feel it straight away.

"He's going to leave a massive hole and he's become a great mate as well, he's a fan favourite, everyone love him. I've even got pub owners in Goulburn who want him to come drink their cider they love him so much.

"Hopefully we've still got him for a couple of weeks."