LACHLAN Fitzgibbon’s decision to join Warrington Wolves was partly driven by the familiar feeling the town gave him.

A proud son of the New South Wales city of Newcastle, the second rower is not the first to make comparisons between his hometown and the place he will call his home for the next three years.

Another famed Novocastrian in Kurt Gidley spent the final two years of his storied career with The Wire and would often say the two places felt very much alike.

While his time in the town is still very much in its infancy, Fitzgibbon is discovering Warrington and Newcastle are indeed similar in a key way, full of hard-working people who love their rugby league.

“It’s a great town – a beautiful place with rich history,” the 29-year-old said.

“It reminds me a lot of Newcastle – it’s a blue-collar town with a working history, and it’s a one-club town.

“I found a lot of comparables, so that’s what’s made the move so easy for me.

“Newcastle’s a pretty proud town, a steelwork town. There’s no other clubs really nearby – you have to travel a little bit to get into Sydney – and they love their footy.

“From the research I’ve done, Warrington have got one of the best supporter bases over here and it’s the same for Newcastle back home. They’re very similar towns and communities.”

Fitzgibbon has not made the trip alone, with his partner Emily having joined him in moving to the other side of the world.

Once they find their feet in their new home, they are looking forward to following the Gidley family’s lead and throwing themselves into town life.

“It’s just the two of us and we’ve got the world at our feet,” Fitzgibbon said.

“She’s loving it over here too – it’s still early days and we’re still finding our feet, but we both really enjoy getting in and around the community and getting involved.”

Still the right side of 30 and having been one of the NRL’s form players in his position throughout last year, offers to remain in his homeland would have been plentiful for Fitzgibbon.

However, he declared early in the season that he was keen to take up the challenge of playing in Super League, sparking an intense race for his services.

Leeds, Catalans and Hull KR were heavily linked but it was The Wire who eventually earned his signature.

“I’d been at the Knights for over 10 years having come through as a junior, and I probably didn’t see myself playing for another NRL club. I’m a pretty proud Novocastrian,” he said.

“I always thought Super League was on my radar and when I signed last year, Warrington were going really well and with where we were sitting in our season, it was a bit of a grind early on.

“Rugby league’s funny in that it works in little windows and for myself and my partner, it felt like the perfect time to head overseas for a new challenge.

“I’m still super-pumped about it and I can’t wait to get out there.

“I knew a bit about Super League as I’d always watch it from afar. I didn’t really have a team – I just knew the type of teams that had been going good over the past few years.

“Danny Buderus was at the Knights and he was a Leeds man, then obviously Kurt Gidley was here at Warrington.

“We had Blake Green as our assistant coach and he spoke about Wigan, so I did a lot of research about the league and the clubs over here.

“I spoke to numerous players and I’ve got a few good mates playing over here – Luke Yates is ex-Newcastle, as is Sione Mata’utia.

“I spoke to them, Jackson Hastings had a good Super League career as well so I bounced a lot of ideas of him.

“I spoke to some former players as well like Kurt Gidley, so I bounced ideas off a lot of people back home. I found myself here and I’m glad I did.”