LACHLAN Fitzgibbon will continue a proud history of Newcastle Knights players heading to Warrington Wolves after signing a three-year deal with the English Super League club.
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Fitzgibbon will follow in the footsteps of former Knights captains Andrew Johns and Kurt Gidley, and premiership-winning forward Paul Marquet.
Johns had a famous three-game stint with the Wolves in 2005, Gidley spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons with them, and Marquet played there in 2002, the year after helping Newcastle win the NRL grand final.
Fitzgibbon was quoted on the Warrington website as saying: "It's been in my vision for the last couple of years to make the move over to Super League.
"They play a really good brand of rugby league in the UK, which I feel will suit my game. At 29, I want to come over while I still have my best years in front of me.
"The history of the club and how important the club is to the town and the people of Warrington really resonated with me. I'm from a town over here in Newcastle and it's full of passionate people who love their footy.
"Michael Monaghan is one of our assistant coaches at the Knights and spoke very highly about the club.
"I know Kurt Gidley too who's a Newcastle legend. Kurt spoke so positively about the club and town. Hearing how much he enjoyed his time over there really made me feel comfortable about the decision and the move to England.
"I'm looking forward to getting over there and meeting the Warrington fans."
A South Newcastle junior, the big back-rower debuted for his home-town team in 2015 and has scored 31 tries in 112 NRL games.
The Knights have already moved to replenish their back-row stocks by signing England international Kai Pearce-Paul from Wigan and reportedly Jed Cartwight from South Sydney.
Newcastle remain hopeful of extending the tenure of off-contract NSW Origin forward Tyson Frizell.
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