BLAKE Austin says he is coming to Warrington Wolves with the mindset that he “does not want to head back” to Australia.

The Canberra Raiders playmaker has signed a three-year deal to become The Wire’s marquee player from next season, bringing to an end the club’s search to replace the departing Tyrone Roberts.

Warrington Wolves secure Austin signature

Is Austin a gamble worth taking for Wire?

Austin – who won the Dally M five-eighth of the year award in 2015 and has an English grandmother – says he wants change the “unwritten law” of Super League being a final destination for NRL journeymen.

The 27-year-old says he is excited for his family to see what England has to offer but that his primary motivation for the move was to bring success to The Wire.

“I’m heading over with the mindset that I don’t really want to head back,” he said.

“There’s an unwritten law that you plug away in the NRL until you’re 30 then you go over and see Europe, but I am coming over to play good footy and hopefully bring some success to Warrington.

“If I came over with any other mindset, I think I’d struggle and miss home too much.

“I need to work really hard to make sure I’m playing good footy. It will get a pretty dark place if I’m not doing that.

“Anyone I speak to thinks my style of footy will suit the Super League, and I’m nervous to find that out.

“It’s going to be a challenge to find out what works in England and what doesn’t but I’m excited for that challenge.

“It’s an opportunity to go to Europe. My kids will have a few more stamps on their passports and my Mrs and I are really excited.”

Austin says there were chances to stay in his home country when his Raiders contract expired at the end of this season, with Paramatta Eels said to be particularly keen to recruit him.

However, after initially being sceptical about a move to England, he says a chat with Wire head coach Steve Price meant his decision was made easy.

“I’m really happy with my decision. Everyone we’ve spoken to speaks really highly about Warrington as a club.

“It’s a decision we made quickly. I spoke to Steve Price and I really enjoyed my chats with him.

“He wasn’t someone who pushed too hard to get me to the club.

“He told me that if I kept playing good footy, things would work out and that was something I really liked.

“I had a couple of opportunities to stay in the NRL, but by speaking to Pricey and by him explaining the opportunities I could have in England made me think I could prolong my career for a bit longer.

“It takes a little bit of the risk out of it for me.

“I had my first chat with Pricey around two weeks ago.

“It was only six weeks ago that I shut my manager down pretty quickly and said the Super League wasn’t going to be for me.

“As time went on, my Mrs was definitely more open to the move than I was.

“After speaking to Pricey and getting people’s opinions on Warrington as a club, I think it’s going to be a good move.”

Austin will be making the move to Warrington with partner Gillian and their four children and the process of preparing them for the big change has already begun.

“My partner has been telling all our friends in Canberra what’s happening next year and from what she says, it’s been a bit of a cry session over coffee,” he said.

“We’ll be sad to leave Canberra, we’ve really embraced it. It’s also very exciting though.

“My four-year-old daughter doesn’t know how she’s going to understand the language over there because she thinks they speak another language in England!

“We had to explain they just sound a little different.”