Warriors trio extend Wigan deals

MJ Black

Wigan trio Liam Farrell, Joel Tomkins and Taulima Tautai have extended their contracts with the club.

Farrell has signed a five-year deal that will see him stay with the Warriors until the end of the 2022 season, Tautai has penned a three-year contract until the end of the 2020 campaign and Tomkins has agreed to stay until at least the end of the 2019 season with the option of an extra year in the club’s favour.

Wigan boss Shaun Wane said: “It is fantastic news that all three players have re-signed for Wigan.

“Liam is a player that many clubs, both in Super League and the NRL, would want and the fact he’s chosen to stay with his hometown club is great news for Wigan.

“He epitomises everything we are about as a club and I truly hope he ends being a ‘one-club man’.

“Taulima has fitted into our culture perfectly during his time at the club and more importantly he’s helped improve it.

“Joel is an outstanding individual who continually drives the standards of this club. A fine player and a great man – I’m so happy that he is with us for the next few years.”

The news was announced on Twitter by boxing legend Evander Holyfield, who became the Warriors’ latest fan earlier this week.

Farrell said he was pleased to get his future sorted and that he hadn’t thought of leaving Wigan.

“I just needed to make sure the deal was right for me and I’m very happy with what I’ve got and to stay here for another five years is a dream come true,” he said.

“I always saw myself spending most of my career at the Club and it’s looking like that will probably happen now.

“All I’ve ever wanted to do was play for Wigan. I made my debut eight years ago and now I’m signing another five year deal, so I’m very pleased and hopefully in the next five years we can achieve a lot more.”

Tautai joined the Warriors at the end of 2014 and admits it took him a while to settle into things.

“I’m really happy to secure another three years at this club – my family are settled in here so I’m really looking forward to the next three years,” he said.

“It was quite a culture shock coming to Wigan and it took me about a year to get used to everything, but once I did I think I started playing some good rugby.

“When Wigan wanted to extend my deal I was pretty excited – for them to do that means I must be doing something right.

“The big thing that drew me to the club was the fact Wigan are so successful and having won the Grand Final and the World Club Challenge already in my first three years I just want to win more and more now.”

Tomkins is now in his second spell with Wigan and he says extending his stay was an easy decision to make.

“The club has shown a lot of loyalty to me – since I came back from rugby union I’ve had a few injury problems but I feel like I’m getting over them now,” said Tomkins.

“I also think I came back a different player so it’s taken a bit of time to adapt, but I feel like I’ve done that now.

“Within this contract there’s also a development plan for after my rugby career whereby I’ll work with Ian Lenagan and Kris Radlinski to work out where I can fit into the organisation when I finish playing.

“I love this club and I really enjoy being here and hopefully we can win some more trophies over the next few years too.”

Super League Wigan Warriors

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