Newcastle Red Bulls have announced the signing of proven finisher and Prem legend Christian Wade, who will join them in December following his spell at Wigan Warriors.
The electric wing is coming back to rugby union after his stint in rugby league for the Super League champions and is an impressive signing from Steve Diamond’s outfit.
Wade is the second-highest try-scorer in Prem history and will no doubt be looking to chase down current leader Chris Ashton, who is just eight ahead of him.
93 Prem tries to date
He has scored a remarkable 93 times in England’s top flight during a varied career which has also seen spells in the French Top 14, American football and rugby league.
His seven Prem hat-tricks remains a league record, with the 34-year-old former Wasps star touching down 11 tries in 14 top-flight games for Gloucester last campaign.
Newcastle Red Bulls director of rugby Diamond was thrilled to secure the signature of the former England international, who has also played for the British & Irish Lions.
“Christian has scored tries wherever he has been and remains one of the best finishers in the game,” he said.
“He performed to a really high standard for Gloucester last season and challenged himself by joining the best rugby league team in the country, which just goes to show the enthusiasm he still has to broaden his knowledge and skill base.
“I’ve always been impressed by his ability on the field, but when we met a short while ago to discuss the possibility of him joining us I was struck by what an articulate and ambitious guy he is, even having achieved so much throughout his career.
“As well as adding massively to our playing ability I truly believe he will be a great character within our group, and signings like this just add to the growing excitement around the place.”
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Wade said: “There’s massive buzz about the whole Newcastle Red Bulls project, and I can’t wait to be part of it.
“Red Bull are a commercial and sporting giant who are right at the cutting edge of high performance, and any athlete would want to be associated with something like that. When I met with Steve Diamond he was stressing the whole culture of the club in a really positive way, and I’m keen to push myself in that kind of environment.
“There’s massive potential up at Newcastle now after some difficult years, and if I can help elevate the team during the early part of this new era then I think that would be something really special.”
Making no attempt to shy away from the Prem try-scoring milestone which is now within his sights, Wade said: “I’m coming to get that record.
“Of course rugby is a team sport and the main thing for me is being a positive influence in helping the overall Newcastle side to perform, but I’m not going to pretend I don’t want to be the all-time top try-scorer in the league’s history.
“I said when I signed for Gloucester that it would take me two years, and I was able to be part of a team which surprised a lot of people in finishing in the top half of the table.
“I’ve now got this fantastic opportunity with Newcastle Red Bulls, and when I spoke to Dimes about it he just said ‘we want you to come up here, express yourself and get that record.’”
December arrival
Arriving on Tyneside in December following his rugby league sojourn, Wade said: “It’s been an absolute honour to be involved with a great club like Wigan Warriors, and they’ve been fantastic with me.
“I’ve never been someone to shy away from a challenge, I’ve learnt a lot from the experience and it’s a special organisation. Their fans are incredible, more like a football crowd with how tribal they are, and I’ve been proud to represent them.
“Someone told me a stat recently saying I was the oldest ever Wigan Warriors debutant, which is quite an unusual record to hold, but they’ve been absolutely great with me and I’ll take nothing but fond memories away from my time there before arriving in Newcastle in December.”
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