Kaide Ellis hoping to claim bragging rights against old pal in Penrith Panthers showdown

The pair were born and raised in Dubbo, New South Wales, and later lived together during their shared time at the Panthers.

Ellis received his NRL debut shirt aged 21 from the current Australia international in 2018, going on to share the field for two years until his move to St George Illawarra Dragons.

Wigan will face the NRL kings later in February at the DW Stadium, with Ellis looking forward to facing his best friend, who has co-captained the club alongside Nathan Cleary since 2021.

“I’m best mates with Isaah Yeo, so that’ll be pretty cool to play against him,” Ellis, who joined the Warriors ahead of 2022, said.

“We grew up together and played a bit of first-grade together and I never would have thought we’d be playing against each other over here in England.

“It’ll be pretty cool to play against him. It’s very exciting.”

The new Wigan Warriors number 13 is embracing the challenge of facing his former team-mates, who made history by becoming the first side in 40 years to win the Premiership three times in a row down under.

Ellis progressed through the club’s youth systems, winning the 2015 National Youth Competition alongside Dylan Edwards, Jarome Luai, Soni Luke, James Fisher-Harris and Moses Leota, before making eight senior appearances.

“I played a lot of my under-18s and under-20s with most of the current Penrith Panthers boys,” he explained.

“I saw a couple of them when I was back home during the off-season - I spent quite a bit of time in Penrith back home.

“I ran into a few of those boys, which was funny. It was nice to catch up and I know they’re looking forward to coming over as well.

“But there'll be no friendships on that night.”

Ellis also believes the World Club Challenge fixture will benefit the sport in the northern hemisphere, with the clash last played in England in 2020 before the pandemic between St Helens and Sydney Roosters.

Wigan were last crowned champions in 2017, defeating Cronulla Sharks 22-6 at the DW Stadium, having also lost to the Roosters two years later at home.

The 27-year-old continued: “After last year with St Helens getting over them, they’ll be hungry. We’re looking forward to it.

“I think it’ll be really good for rugby league in England. Penrith have been so dominant for the last three years and I think what we did last year, and what we potentially could do, it’s going to be a good match-up.

“It’s exciting. To bring that team over to the other side of the world, it’s good for English rugby league, good for Wigan and I think it’s going to be a really good name.

“There’s a lot of similarities between both sides in the way they play and the way we play defensively and in attack.

“It’ll come down to who does it better and ultimately who wants it more on the night.

"I can’t wait.”