Former St Pat's lock Joe Batchelor is set to represent England on the world stage

When England named its World Cup squad on Friday there were a number of St Pat's members who were both surprised and delighted to see Batchelor's name on the list.

One of them was Graham Ward, who recruited the now 27-year-old to play in Group 10 first grade for the Saints in 2015.

"We are all very surprised, but dedication was his biggest thing here, he was just a great young fella," Ward said.

"He was only young when he came here, he went home for his 21^st.

"You wouldn't have expected Joe to get picked. Joe was pretty laid back, but he was a bit of a fitness fanatic, he loved the gym."

Batchelor came to the Saints as a replacement for Brent Dennis, the long-serving lock opting to retire after winning the 2014 premiership.

He joined the Saints from Celtic Dewsbury and was one of three Englishmen in the blue and white that year, Luke Newsome and Nathan Lawrence the others.

Batchelor impressed when the Saints won the pre-season Bathurst Panthers Knockout and continued to do so as the season regular unfolded.

His efforts earned him a spot in the Group 10 representative squad and helped the Saints qualify for the finals in fifth. That's as far as they got, losing 37-10 to Blayney in the minor preliminary semi-final.

Batchelor returned to England after that season, joining the Coventry Bears. But Ward stayed in touch.

He still messages Batchelor, while his wife keeps in touch with Batchelor's mother.

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Though Ward felt Batchelor could make a successful career in rugby league, he has been surprised with just how far he's gone since his time in Group 10.

"He was always going to be successful no matter what he did, his dedication was the thing. I'd dare say he'd be very surprised with where he is now, but he's definitely done a lot of hard work," he said.

"His brother [James] he's playing for Wakefield Trinity now and he's played for a few clubs over there. He was always the number one but now the roles are reversed.

"We've watched a heap of his games and he does nothing wrong, he's just so reliable. He's scored a few good tries."

Batchelor currently plays in the English Super League for St Helens, a club he first linked with in 2019.

He was St Helens' 18^th man for the 2020 Super League grand final but has improved greatly since then.

He played in the 2021 decider when the St Helens beat the Catalan Dragons 12-10, and on September 24 was a key in helping his club win another championship.

It was Batchelor who scored the opening try of the grand final against the Leeds Rhinos in the 14^th minute and five minutes later the second rower was in again. His side went on to win 24-12.

That effort cemented his spot in England's 24-player World Cup squad.

His selection for the tournament was widely tipped after he earned his debut cap for England against the Combined Nations All Stars in June.

Still, it was huge news for Batchelor.

"At the start of the year I just wanted to make sure I was playing week in, week out for St Helens," he said.

"[Playing] in a home World Cup for England, that would be one of the proudest days of my life."

He's joined in the England squad by NRL talents such as Tom Burgess (South Sydney), Elliott Whitehead (Canberra Raiders) and Victor Radley (Sydney Roosters).

Batchelor and his English team-mates will play a World Cup warm-up match against Fiji next Friday, before they face Samoa at St James' Park in the opening game of the tournament on October 15.

Their other pool games will be against France and Greece.

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