HIS Warrington Wolves debut will happen later than anticipated, but Gareth Widdop is feeling relaxed.

Just four days after joining up with his new teammates for pre-season training, the marquee signing from St George Illawarra Dragons picked up an ankle injury that will see him miss the start of the 2020 campaign.

Current projections put the 30-year-old at missing the first three games of the campaign, including clashes with neighbours and rivals Wigan and St Helens.

However, the England man was determined to take the positives.

“It’s frustrating, especially coming into a new team in the middle of pre-season with games only four or five weeks away,” he said.

“At the end of the day, though, it was just an accident that could have happened to anybody but unfortunately it happened to me.

“I’ve just got to get my head down and crack on with my rehab. It’s a long season with plenty of games in it so I’m not too worried.

“I’d rather it happened now than in August or September. I said when it happened that if there were any positives to take, its that its now.

“I’m focused on my rehab now in order to get myself fully fit.

“There’s so many games in a season that we don’t have to be flying in round one.

“There’s plenty of time to get right so its not the end of the world.”

Widdop was born in Halifax but has lived in Australia since the age of 16 and his entire first-grade career has been played in the NRL with the Dragons and Melbourne Storm.

Having won a Premiership Down Under with the Storm in 2012, the 28-cap England international arrived back home on New Year’s Eve with the ultimate aim of joining an elite list of players to have won league titles in both hemispheres.

With his move to The Wire being confirmed almost a year ago – prior to the start of the 2019 season – it has been a protracted move but Widdop is pleased to finally be a part of the club.

“It’s been a long year but to finally get here and get stuck into it is exciting,” he said.

“It’s been good – you can see why we’ve had a lot of success over the past few years.

“As a club, they set high standards and values and anyone who does that will have plenty of success.

“That’s one thing I’ve noticed since walking in and I’m excited to be a part of that.

“We’re slowly finding our feet but the boys have made that a lot easier.”