LeagueNews.co | Cooper McEnroe
Wests Tigers teammates John Bateman and Jahream Bula have both been nominated for the prestigious 2023 Golden Boot Award, following the recent Pacific Championships and England-Tonga test series.
The IRL Golden Boot is awarded to the best player in rugby league internationals each year and is judged by a panel of test greats comprising Darren Lockyer (Australia), Adrian Morley (England), Ruben Wiki (New Zealand), James Graham (England) and Adam Blair (New Zealand).
Bateman played consistently well throughout the three-match series against Tonga, and was voted man of the match in the final game at Headingly which secured a clean-sweep for the hosts.
Bula was also the everywhere man for Fiji in the Pacific Championships looking anything but out of place on the international stage.
His international debut against the Cook Islands was simply outstanding, scoring a try and chalking up some impressive numbers on the back of a stellar first season in the NRL.
Bateman is one of four England players on the 20-strong list of nominees, while Bula is joined by Fiji teammate Tui Kamikamica.