NEW Castleford Tigers signing Gareth Widdop will be hoping for better days at his new club.
The former Warrington Wolves playmaker endured a difficult time at the Halliwell Jones, arriving shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2019 and then being separated from his family.
Now Widdop, who has signed a two-year deal at the Jungle, has opened up on those difficulties.
“I moved at the end of 2019 and I was here for two-and-a-half months before the pandemic hit and at that time I went through a breakdown in my marriage,” Widdop said on The Bye Round podcast with James Graham.
“My kids ended up relocating back to Australia and because of the restrictions on travel, I was unsure of what the future held.
“I had just signed for Warrington and I had aspirations of winning things and playing well over here in the UK with my family around.”
During the time in which Widdop went back to Australia because of the Covid-19 pandemic, there had been rumours swirling around about a potential move back to the NRL.
“It’s not as easy as going back and getting a deal at the end of the day so I decided to return to the UK but at the time I wasn’t sure where I was at with the situation.
“So I was having a little look around in Australia to see if there was something there but I knew what I wanted to do and achieve so I returned to the UK to be around my family and my grandparents.
“Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to do that in my time at Warrington.
“It’s been quite difficult being away from my kids is very very difficult but I keep doing what I do for them and I’ll keep trying to make them proud.”
