Former Warrington Wolves man Lachlan Fitzgibbon has found a new club after being released by the Super League club at the end of the season.
The forward spent two seasons with the Wolves and made 41 appearances for the club under the stewardship of Sam Burgess. But, after what was a difficult season for the club, Fitzgibbon was released with a year still remaining on his contract.
Since then, the 32-year-old has made the decision to bid farewell to the top level of the sport, but that doesn’t mean he won’t continue to play on in 2026. In fact, the back-rower has penned terms to join his old junior club South Newcastle Lions in the Newcastle Rugby League.
The Lions have produced talents such as Tevita Pangai Jr and Sione Mata’utia, and have won 11 Premierships in total, with their last coming in 2018. Fitzgibbon will be keen to help Souths to a 12th this year then and after signing for the club, he has opened up on why he was so keen to return to where it all began for him.
“I wanted to come to Souths,” he told the Newcastle Herald. “My home club, my junior club and I’m excited to run out for them. They hold a special place in my heart.
“The opportunity, I still feel good mentally and physically, and I still feel like I’ve got something to give.
“I just want Souths to get back to their glory days, so to speak.”
Ex-Warrington Wolves man reflects
Reflecting on his career as a whole, in which he made 160 first grade appearances, with 119 coming with his local club Newcastle Knights in the NRL, Fitzgibbon said: “Super proud of what I managed to achieve in the NRL for the Knights, being my club – my home club.
“I had some good years, met some great people, friends for life. I started playing for the Knights when I was 18 in SG Ball, so about 12 years.
“Some of the best moments of my life and some of the best years of my life, and then moving to the UK, it was new and refreshing.
“Off the back of that, I got to play in two Challenge Cup finals, which was massive. Two losses, which wasn’t great, but nonetheless two Challenge Cup finals playing at Wembley. It was awesome. And we got to travel the world.
“Reflecting on my 12, 13 years of professional footy, I couldn’t really ask for anything much more.
“I have no regrets about leaving, going overseas. I never wanted to leave the Knights.
“I’m proud of my career, and now it’s just time to still play tough footy, but not in a professional environment.”
Check out the latest episode of The Serious About Rugby League Show on our YouTube channel here.
