WITHOUT a doubt, The Wire have made a massive statement in signing Gareth Widdop.
Here is a player who is coveted by NRL giants and has been one of the most prominent English exports to the Australian competition in recent times.
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The fact he has turned down half of Super League – and walked out of a lucrative deal with St George Illawarra – to come to The Halliwell Jones Stadium demonstrates the kind of pulling power Warrington have as a club.
Rival fans will say it is purely financial and no doubt this deal would have been hugely unlikely without the personal resources Simon Moran and Stuart Middleton have ploughed into the club.
However, Widdop himself has said he wanted to play in Super League while still at the peak of his powers.
He wants to show the people whose international team he has represented with distinction what he can do on a weekly basis.
If he feels Warrington Wolves are his best vehicle for achieving that, who are we to argue with him?
Widdop’s arrival comes in an era in which targeting – and on occasion securing – the world’s biggest stars and tempting them to our little corner of Cheshire is becoming the norm.
There isn’t an abacus big enough to count the number of times Johnathan Thurston has been house-hunting in Stockton Heath.
We have seen the likes of Andrew Johns, Alfie Langer and Adrian Morley wear the Wire shirt, and Blake Austin will shortly follow – so where does the addition of Widdop fit among them?
Is this signing a real world-rocker? One to shake the foundations of the game?
Until Widdop actually pulls on a primrose and blue jersey, that may be too much of a burden to put on him.
The only way of ensuring his name is up there with the greats of this club is by leading it to glory.
Of course, the unique nature of this transfer is that Widdop may well arrive in November and find himself coming into a Super League-winning side.
With the team The Wire have assembled for 2019, nobody can say that is beyond the realms of possibility.
Widdop has been brought in at great cost to help inspire Warrington to create a dynasty of dominance.
He will not be the only cog in the machine to make that happen, but he and Austin are certainly key ones.
That – along with being Super League’s highest-paid player as he is rumoured to be – brings its own pressure, but how exciting it will be to watch him try and live up to it.
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