Back rower Sam Wilde has signed a new one-year deal with Widnes Vikings, keeping him at the club until 2019.
The 23-year-old came through the ranks at Warrington Wolves, making 18 appearances for the first team, before spending time on loan at Rochdale, Widnes and London Broncos. After impressing in his short spell on loan at Widnes in 2017, Wilde signed a permanent deal with the club ahead of the 2018 season. He went on to make 21 appearances for the club during the 2018 season.
Wilde’s re-signing is another statement of intent by the Vikings, who’s off season recruitment keeps gathering pace. Wilde joins the likes of Jay Chapelhow, MacGraff Leuluai and Owen Farnworth in committing his future to the club.
On his new contract, Wilde said: “It’s a massive weight lifted off my shoulders and I’m happy to have it all sorted. I’m really excited for next year and what we can achieve in 2019.”
“We all know that last season wasn’t good enough, and results didn’t go the way that anyone involved with the club wanted. But we now have to flip that and take a look at the positives, and use them to get this club back to where it belongs in Super League.”
“Despite what happened on the field this year, I’ve really enjoyed my time here since joining, so that made it quite an easy decision for me to re-sign.”
“You can see what the club is trying to do with the youth system they have in place, and having spoken to James Rule about the club’s ambitions and where we want to go, I knew that I wanted to be part of it.”
James Rule, CEO of Widnes Vikings, said: “Sam’s hard work both on the training and playing field is self-evident. I’m delighted that he is committing his future to Widnes Vikings.”
“As with all the players who have committed to date, It’s inspiring to see how much our club means to them and their determination to drive us back into Super League at the end of the 2019 season.”
