Sky is the limit for Joe Philbin after earning new Warrington deal

Drew Darbyshire

Joe Philbin is aiming to become a Warrington great after committing his long-term future to his hometown club.

The 24-year-old penned a new deal with the Wolves until the end of the 2021 season last week, alongside England Knights team-mates Toby King and Tom Lineham.

Philbin only made his debut for his boyhood club Warrington back in 2014 in an away win at Hull KR, but he has already got 98 appearances to his name.

“Being a Warrington lad, it means a lot to me to play for this club and I’m buzzing to get the new deal over the line,” Philbin told loverugbyleague.com.

“I don’t have the contract situation looming over my head now and I can now focus on my rugby. I’m over the moon to be extending my time here and I feel like there are exciting times coming here.

“Under Steve Price, we are building a really good squad and we are playing some really tough rugby. It’s exciting times for us.

“I don’t know if I’ll become a great! Super Bennie Westwood is my hero and if I can do half of what he has done in my career then I’ll be very happy. I’m not getting ahead of myself yet, I just go week-by-week. I ask myself ‘what can I do to develop?’ and ‘what can I improve on from the week before?’ and if good things come from that then I’ll be happy.”

The Wolves have started the season in fine form, sitting top of the Super League table after winning eight of their first nine fixtures.

And it is a top-of-the-table showdown at the Totally Wicked Stadium on Friday night, with Warrington facing neighbours St Helens.

“What a game it is going to be, they’ll be going hard at us and we’ll be going hard at them,” Philbin added.

“I’m expecting the best 80 minutes we’ve seen so far in Super League this year and we will be really excited for it. We need to have a big week in training and a big build-up for the game. Bring on Friday night.

“We can’t get carried away though. There are so many games in a season, I think we played around 40 games last year which is a hydrant in itself that it’s too much, so we can’t think about October or any finals yet unless we’ll get bit on the backside.

“I’m very happy with how I am going individually and how we are going collectively at the minute. I’m happy with my game time and we are just trying to get better each week.

“We are driving high standards here at Warrington and I feel like I’m helping do that.”

Super League Joe Philbin