Widnes Vikings have signed back-rower Connor Farrell from Wigan Warriors on a season-long loan deal. He will be sponsored by Skin Deep Aesthetics, who also sponsor fellow new signing Setaimata Sa.
Farrell, 22, made his Super League debut in 2014, ironically against the Vikings, and featured eight times for Wigan in 2015.
Vikings Head Coach, Denis Betts, said: “We’ve been looking for replacements for Danny Galea and in Connor, we feel that we’ve found the best quality player available to do that.
“He’s still young, he’s got a great desire to be successful and he’s very solid defensively. He’s got four international back-rowers ahead of him at Wigan, so he comes here to fight for his spot and it’s good to put that pressure on him.
“He’s got some good characteristics and he’s always performed well against us. He knows a couple of our players already and he’s ready to step up and push the likes of Setaimata Sa, Chris Houston, Chris Dean and Matt Whitley in the back-row.
“There aren’t a lot of players out there, and we lost Danny very late, so it’s hard to find anyone who isn’t already under contract. Wigan have a lot of good players with Super League experience, they need him to play at a better level than in the Championship and we needed to fill a spot in the back-row.”
Connor Farrell said: “The move came about quite quickly. I was in training camp with Wigan and Shaun Wane pulled me to one side and said Widnes have come in, and straight away I wanted to go.
“Liam always had good things to say about Widnes, and I’ve spoke to Dom Crosby, Logan Tomkins and Willie Isa and they all said it’s a great club.
“I’m 22 now and I need to get more game time in Super League. My focus now is playing well for Widnes.
“They’ve always been a team I’ve watched knowing some of the players that play here. I like the style with the way Kevin Brown and Joe Mellor play and from speaking to Denis, it sounds like something I’ll fit in to. There’s no reason we can’t be in the top eight, and that’s what I’m here to help the club achieve.”
Farrell is the younger brother of England international Liam, who made six appearances for the Vikings on loan in 2010, and the younger cousin of former Wigan and Great Britain international Andy Farrell.
As well as a total of 10 first appearances for Wigan, Farrell has played 21 times for Workington and three times for South Wales Scorpions during his career to date.
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