Wigan Warriors v Leeds Rhinos: Yogi confident his switch to Wigan was no '˜boo-boo'
AS Joe Greenwood prepares to make his Wigan Warriors debut tomorrow night, he insists he will be ready '“ and revealed it took his new team-mates just a matter of hours to christen him '˜Yogi'.
The ex-St Helens second-row only arrived from Australia on Sunday after leaving Gold Coast Titans to sign a three-and-a-half-year deal at DW Stadium.
England hopeful Greenwood played 22 NRL games last term but hadn’t featured in 2018 for new boss Garth Brennan.
“I was driving in on robot mode (on Monday) turning up here where I used to play in the academy,” he said.
“It only seemed two minutes ago I was packing up and leaving the Gold Coast and now here I am, getting ready for my first game.
“But it’s good to get started. I was nervous; it was like first day of school again, getting to know the coaches and players.
“My brother James used to play here, and they called him Bear. The lads said I need a nickname. That was at 9am, and by 1pm I was told I’m going to be called ‘Yogi’.”
On his time Down Under, Greenwood, added: “I loved the lifestyle and I would have liked to stay for a couple more years.
“But it’s a short career, and when this opportunity came up I couldn’t turn it down.
“I’ve been keeping my eye on Super League and Wigan are up there, they’re pushing for silverware and coming here was a no-brainer.
“They’ve got some quality back-rowers already and hopefully I can learn off them.
“It’s just good to get straight back into it, rather than have to wait for my shot.
“Hopefully I can bring some energy and my size to the team.
“It’s going to be a big game against Leeds. They’re struggling at the minute and are falling short on the wins but we can’t let our guard down.
“They’re an off-the-cuff team; you can’t switch off when you play against them.”