Kaide Ellis answers Wigan Warriors fan questions ahead of his first appearance for the club

The prop joined the club from NRL side St George Illawarra during the off-season and has been settling into his new surroundings.

During Wigan’s media day he took the time to answer some fan questions from Wigan Today readers.

Here are his responses:

1. We have a great heritage at the club, are you excited to have your name associated with it and the prop forwards who have come before you?

Ellis said: “I am really excited. One of the reasons I have come to the club is because of its history and past successes, so it is a huge honour having my name up there. Every day you go through the corridors and see the past teams, so hopefully one day I’ll be up there too.

“When the times comes and I finish up with Wigan, I want to be recognised as one of the top front rowers to represent the club. I have the end goal of winning a few competitions.

“There’s been some great players here. If you look at our coaching staff we’ve got Sean O’Loughlin, who played in a sort of similar role, so it’s good hearing him share his wisdom and to be able to learn off him.

“We’ve got Brad Singleton, who has been very successful at over clubs, so working with him is cool as well.”

2. Have you watched Super League previously? And, are there any teams or individuals who you are looking forward to coming up against?

Ellis said: “In Australia you don’t catch a lot of the games. I’ve heard a lot about the St Helens derby game, I don’t know a lot about them apart from they’ve won it back-to-back three times.

“I’ve heard it’s a pretty physical game, so I’ve got my eye on that the most.”

3. Are you aware you’ve got to give 100 per cent in every game, and 100 per cent and more when you play Saints?

Ellis said: “I’ve heard last year was the first time we had beaten them for a few years, so I think that speaks volumes about how successful they are, but a lot has changed this year.

“It is a big game, but I give 100 per cent whether we play St Helens or another team. You want to win everyone, but you can find that bit extra for a local derby, so I’m really excited for that one.”

4. Apart from the weather, what is the hardest thing you’ve had to adjust to?

Ellis said: “I’ve adjusted pretty easily, at the moment, the weather hasn’t been too bad, obviously it’s a bit colder.

“The hardest thing is probably getting used to the time difference in the first week because Australia is 11 hours ahead, so that was a killer, but apart from that the lifestyle is pretty similar. The people are the same, so it’s been easy to adjust.

“I spent some time in London over Christmas, and that was more Australia like, but Wigan is very similar to where I grew up. I spent my first few weeks in Billinge, so that was good to get familiar, before moving to Salford.”

5. Have you experienced the magic of a Galloways Pie?

Ellis said: “I have no idea what that is. Australia is known for meat pies, so I don’t know if I want to ruin it. I had my first sausage roll the other day here and it wasn’t bad. I’ve still not got round to a smack barm pey wet either.”

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