Just over a year ago, John Bateman gave every Bulls fan the news they longed to hear.

He signed a contract which kept him at his hometown club until the end of 2015.

The best young player in Super League had been the subject of intense interest from rival clubs during the height of the Bulls’ financial meltdown.

Warrington owner Simon Moran, a long-time admirer, tried to tempt then chairman Peter Hood into selling the former Dudley Hill amateur.

Hood resisted. Bateman stayed.

At the end of a season which saw him establish a fine reputation in Super League and captain the England Academy side in Australia, Bateman signed a new, improved deal.

“I’ve always said I want to stay at Bradford,” he said, happily posing for pictures alongside Francis Cummins, Omar Khan and Gerry Sutcliffe.

“Some people were saying I’d already signed for this club or that but I’ve never wanted to leave here.

“Hopefully I’ve given the fans back a bit for what they’ve done for me.”

Bateman’s show of loyalty was a major boost to Cummins, appointed as head coach less than three weeks earlier.

“The foundations will be set by John, Elliott Whitehead and Tom Olbison,” declared Cummins.

“They are players who’ve been here since they were kids. That’s how we will take this club forward.”

Just over a year on from the 20-year-old pledging his future to the Bulls, Whitehead is long gone and Bateman became a Wigan player last week.

That contract he penned last October apparently counted for little.

Losing Whitehead was one thing.

But to lose both of your best home-grown players within the space of six months?

Cummins won respect for the way he dealt with Whitehead.

After the player made it clear he no longer wanted to play for the Bulls, he was shipped out as quickly as possible.

A fee was agreed with Catalan Dragons and off Whitehead went.

But Bateman was the jewel in the crown; a rough diamond who just needed a little polishing.

He was hailed by Cummins as a future Bulls captain, which was probably stating the obvious.

Cummins knew he had a special talent on his hands and arranged for Bateman to meet England skipper Kevin Sinfield, winner of six Super League titles with Leeds, over coffee.

Sinfield, the consummate professional, imparted his wisdom on Bateman.

“I think John can be anything he wants to be – he’s that good,” said Sinfield.

“I’ve played against him a few times and he’s got the world at his feet.”

Seasoned Super League players talk of Bateman being a fiercely tough opponent, even as a teenager.

So how has it come to this?

Why has Bateman, Bradford born and bred, decided that he no longer wishes to play for the club he grew up supporting?

Cummins made it clear in an interview last Friday that it was not a football-related matter, insisting “my relationship with John has always been very good”.

The Bulls coach said the reason Bateman gave for wanting to leave was that he had grown sick of not being paid on time.

There remains a suspicion that agent Andy Clarke, who manages both Whitehead and Bateman, was a driving force behind the move.

It would seem that numerous factors led to Bateman asking to leave.

But the bottom line is that he wanted to go and has got his wish.

The loss of a player nurtured in the youth ranks by Paul Medley and with such awesome potential does not sit comfortably with many Bulls supporters.

How could it when this was a player the club was supposedly building the team around?

Perhaps not surprisingly, the news that Bateman had been sold was announced at 6pm last Friday – just as the early-bird deadline for season tickets closed.

Bateman’s young body has already taken several knocks, not least the shoulder reconstruction he underwent last year.

He made just 12 Super League appearances during an injury-ravaged 2013 campaign.

Who knows, had he not suffered such cruel luck with injuries, might Bateman have continued his steady rise and perhaps even forced his way into England’s World Cup squad?

He was certainly on Steve McNamara’s radar, having met up with the elite training squad for a training camp at RAF Cranwell in March.

Bradford’s loss should be Wigan’s gain if the impact Bateman has made in Super League so far is anything to go by.

Bateman, a proud father to Millie, is expected to live in Wigan with new team-mate Dan Sarginson but will doubtless be back in Bradford frequently to see his young daughter.

The next time he will run out at Odsal, however, will be in the cherry and white of Wigan – and for many Bradford folk, that will hurt.