Ellis is here to win

24 Dec 2021

Ellis is here to win

Kaide Ellis arrived in Wigan last month ahead of his debut season at the Warriors in 2022. Ellis joined the club from NRL side St George Illawarra Dragons and will bolster a young and exciting Wigan pack ahead of their new campaign.

Speaking to Wigan TV, Ellis expressed his excitement as he settles into the Warriors unrelenting preseason training schedule.

“It’s been good - I’m enjoying it. It’s been tough but the boys at the club have been really welcoming so it’s been very easy for me to adjust,?? Ellis explained.

“It was a bit of a surprise – the scheduling is quite big, a lot of work and not much rest. It is necessary – that period between Christmas – you’ve got to load as much as you can, as much running and skills and after Christmas you sharpen up a bit and get ready to play.

“The first two weeks are always pretty miserable but then you get a bit of momentum, and it all flows pretty quickly and soon enough we’ll be playing.??

The front rower expects no favours at Wigan. Despite his stint in the NRL, he is determined to pave his way at the Warriors and earn admiration from his teammates, coaching staff and the fans through his hard work - not reputation.

“Coming from the NRL, I don’t want it to feel like I just walk in. I want to earn the respect, start at the bottom, work my way up and hopefully push my way into the starting side - and show that I’m here for a reason.

“I want to show the club why they paid for me to get over here and the fans as well. It’s probably a different story to most NRL players that come over here – they come here later in their career to retire and do the holiday and travel side of things; I don’t want to get in that mindset. I’m here to play footy and I’m here to win. That’s the only reason I’ve come – to win.

“We’ve still got a long way to go but this first week starting now is building towards that. If we do everything right, we’ve got a good group and coaching staff, they’ve gelled well, the scheduling is spot on, so I think we’ve got a good mixture of success. I’m looking forward to it and the bonus will be if we get a [Grand Final] ring at the end of the year.??

So, what can fans expect from the Warriors new prop forward?

“High workrate, high minutes, a bit of a skill; [I] love throwing a couple of offloads around when I’m allowed to. I like to be playing free flowing footy and just play what I see, enjoy it and get through as much work as I can.??

You can watch Kaide Ellis and Wigan Warriors in their Round one clash against Hull KR on Friday 11 February live on Sky Sports.