Christian Wade Q&A: Wigan Warriors new-boy on league so far, union comparisons and his future

The former British and Irish Lions representative has inked a short-term deal with the Warriors for the remainder of the 2025 Super League season.

From joining Wigan to his future beyond this year, here is everything Wade had to say when we met the 34-year-old winger at Wigan’s training HQ, along with a few other members of the media.

Christian, you played your first rugby league game a day after you arrived. How did you find it?

It was definitely very different to what I’m used to. The flow of the game, ball in play, no scrums, no lineouts, no breakdowns, no rucks and stuff, so it was very different, but I enjoyed it.

I had to lean on the other boys out there to help me, like on the fourth tackle, they were telling me to drop back, and then obviously carries, they call it yardage, so I’m trying to learn the lingo as well! It was good fun, just getting involved, the thing that is most similar to union is the defence and I think we’ve had a lot of rugby league coaches come and be good in rugby union as defence coaches, so I think that’s probably the similarity between the two games, but in attack, I was like ‘where are we going? are we going to the left or right?’. All the shapes are a bit different and stuff, but it was good fun.

How did you find the difference in stoppages? There are more breaks in union for scrums, lineouts and so on, whereas league is pretty continuous…

There weren’t really any stoppages apart from when someone scored, that’s the only time that there is a break is when you score, so I think the aim of the game is to score as many times as you can, so you get more breaks!

The flow of the game was just continuous, there was a few balls that went into touch, but then it was just tap and go, or if the ball has gone dead, you run to the 20, it was just tap and go, so it is definitely a faster paced game, there is always something going on. I think the closest I can probably think of is like Rugby 7s, when the game is pretty continuous, there are obviously the rucks, but it is one-man rucks, and the ball is out pretty quickly, but it is fun.

What was your reaction when the boss, Matt Peet, mentioned possibly playing in the Reserves match to you shortly after your arrival?

We’d obviously spoken about how I could ease my way in because coming off the back of a full season with Gloucester, it would probably be a bit silly to go 100mph straight away, so we said wait and see whether we get to the play-offs or not.

I played on the Saturday, and we obviously didn’t qualify, then Sunday we was organising everything, Tuesday we moved up officially and then Wednesday I came in, but on that Monday, Matt said ‘we’ve got a reserves game on Thursday, what do you think?’ and I was like ‘you know that, let’s do it’.

I knew coming in on the Wednesday morning would be my first day, I wasn’t sure what we were going to do, but we did like an extended team run and then Thursday was Castleford away, so I was just like ‘yeah, let’s go mate’.

It was a humbling experience but at the same time it was exciting for me to get out there and get going with it because the season is well underway and the sooner I can get involved and learn as much as I can from playing the game, doing loads of reps in training, the better it is going to be for me in terms of being able to contribute to the team, so it was a baptism of fire, but if it wasn’t now, when would it be? I think it was good just to get that out of the way, and I’m just expecting to get involved again in a couple more reserve games, so hopefully I can step it up from that first one.

Have you been working closely with the likes of Tommy Leuluai and Sean O’Loughlin on your transition to league? And even some of your teammates, for that matter?

I’ve just had some little conversations with Marshy (Liam Marshall), and even some of the younger guys, they are really helpful as well, so I’m just soaking up as much knowledge as possible from the boys, and getting the reps in, even just simple stuff like playing the ball, and how to manoeuvre when I’m going down to ground and stuff, like snapping my knees, going through contacts, there are all these small things than guys, not necessarily what you take for granted, but it’s stuff they’ve been doing since they’ve been little and you might skip over it, but I’m obviously working with Tommy and Lockers as well and they’re teaching me things.

They might say something and the next day be like ‘you know what, I was thinking about it because in rugby union you want to do this, but here it is better to do this’ and those conversations happen all the time. I’ve been using the Hudl app which is how we watch games and training, I’ve been on there for about a month and a half, so even when I was at Gloucester, I was watching some of the training and they would put clips on there of the play-the-balls and first and second carries, so it is a mixture of everybody chipping in to help which I think is the best thing ever in a team environment that’s about trying to help each other, I think that’s the best way for success and Wigan have definitely been a successful team over the years.

It seems a bit daft asking you after a short time, but do you feel like you have settled in?

Definitely from day one. Even when I came on the announcement of me signing, everybody was so welcoming, the staff at the stadium, the commercial and media team, the coaches that I met, they’ve all been welcoming from day one and the younger guys in the reserves, once I met all the rest of the team on the Monday, so it’s been an easy transition for me, it hasn’t been like coming in and feeling awkward. Everyone has made an effort to welcome me, and I don’t even think it’s something out of the ordinary for them. I think it’s how everybody naturally is, so it’s been really nice.

Are you not putting too much pressure on playing Super League straight away as you get used to the transition?

Obviously I’m new to the sport completely so I’m putting my trust in the coaches and the organisation here as well and we’re just working together to make sure my body is where it needs to be, especially after such a long season (with Gloucester), and I need to know what’s happening in a game, I need to understand what’s going on and be comfortable with that in order for me to contribute in the way that I would like to, so I don’t think there is any pressure to be like ‘I need to play’. It’s more about being ready and just being in that position for whenever I get the opportunity to play.

Wigan haven’t been the only rugby league club to show interest in you previously, have they?

Since I retired from rugby union in 2018, there have been a few conversations and stuff with a number of teams, but I didn’t take any of those opportunities seriously until Wigan came. It wasn’t necessarily that I wasn’t interested, it was just when I first went to America (to try my hand in the NFL), my mind was on doing that, it was already a big change for me and obviously it took time for me to get to that point where I was like ‘this is what I want to do’. So to then go and change that doesn’t make sense because I’d put a lot of thought into leaving rugby behind and saying ‘I’m going to do this’ (in the NFL), so it just wasn’t the right time. I think with this opportunity, the timing was perfect, and I was in the space to want to make that change and transition.

When did Wigan make contact with you, and was there an opportunity to stay on with Gloucester for another year?

I was only signed with Gloucester for a year and I think there was some talk of them wanting me to be there for the season coming, I’m not really sure, I can’t really talk on it, I’m not sure what the situation was, but as time was dragging on, that’s when Wigan came to the table and we began to have talks there and I came to see Matt Peet and Kris (Radlinski) and we just had a chat about what their vision is for the club, I spoke about what my vision is and there was just a lot of alignment there and that’s when we came to that decision to make the move.

Wigan are a big brand all over the rugby world, and some incredible wingers have played for this club. The opportunity to follow in the footsteps of guys like Martin Offiah, Billy Boston and Jason Robinson must have played a factor in your decision.

For me, in rugby league, Wigan is the first team I know. It’s one of the biggest brands, if not the biggest brand in rugby, so even I, when I went to Wasps, my head coach was Shaun Edwards. One of my idols was Jason Robinson, and Martin Offiah comes into that conversation as well. Andy Farrell was a defence coach of mine for England and in the Lions tour and even like Owen Farrell, we grew up playing with each other from like 15 or 16, the list just goes on, so when that opportunity came up, I was definitely going to take the conversation seriously and see what could be done. It’s just a team that has so much legacy and greatness. If it makes sense, then why not take that opportunity to see what I can do to add to that?

Did you speak to any of those guys before deciding to sign for Wigan?

I didn’t feel like I needed to, to be honest. Because these guys have played for the club a while ago, things have obviously changed, you never really know, and I think I was able to have conversations with the guys who run everything here, and for me, that was more than enough.

Your time with the Buffalo Bills, as you have already made that transition into a high-performance environment, does that make the transition prepare you a little bit better for this one in terms of stepping into new cultures and things like that...

It definitely sets you up for that. It’s one thing to change teams within your sport, but changing to a completely different sport is mad. I remember how it felt when I went to America and I was in the locker room, having to earn everyone’s respect because they don’t know anything about you and things like that, spending hours with the coaches and all that other stuff, so I remember those days, so it does help coming into another new environment. This one is a bit easier because there are similar elements, the same type of ball, the same sort of skills, just using them a different way, so everything I’ve done in my career, all the experiences, are helping me with this transition once again.

You are 34 now, but you have put yourself in another new environment, does that invigorate and energise you as well?

100 per cent. You know, when people get complacent and stuff like that, making a move like this means you can’t be complacent because you want to earn the respect of the people around you, you want to put your best foot forward all the time.

For me, I’m trying to learn the game and I don’t want to be the guy that is bringing the team down or not up to the standards, so there’s a lot of work I need to do to get there as well, so for me, it’s just exciting, that’s why I love the challenge. Wherever I’m at, I want to give 110 per cent, so for me, this is just a great opportunity once again. The boys have supported me, and so have the team, so every day is exciting.

Do you leave rugby union with any regrets?

To be honest, I’ve always put my best foot forward. Although I’ve been able to achieve a lot, it hasn’t been straightforward. People are always going to see the successes and stuff, but they don’t always know what’s going on behind closed doors or the stuff that’s not talked about.

I pride myself in my career on any opportunities small or big, I’ve bust the door open to make sure I make the most of that opportunity, whether it’s five minutes off the bench or one touch of the ball the whole game or whatever it is, I want to turn that one touch into three tries. I’ve just tried to make an impact on the game all the time, and I’ve got no regrets, to be honest. Anything I’ve wanted to do, I’ve done it, and the story is still being written.

You’ve signed a short-term deal with the Warriors. Is the future open-ended for both sides? Is there any commitment one way or the other, or do you just have to see how the transition goes?

It’s really just about seeing how the transition goes. I think there are people who have done it in the past, going from union to league, but in recent times, people don’t really do it as much, so it’s really to see how it goes really, but it’s open-ended where I haven’t planned to do six months and then go back and play union, and I also haven’t said that I’ll be here for six months and then look to extend or go to another league team, it’s really just about taking it as it comes and seeing how things progress.