Why Bevan French chose to stay at Wigan Warriors despite Newcastle Knights interest

Last night after scooping the top try scorer award for this year’s Super League with over 30 tries, seven of which came in one game against Hull FC, despite the fact he missed the start of the season, Bevan French confirmed he would be staying at Wigan.

Major news both for Wigan but also the wider Super League to have such a special player remaining in the league, French penned a two-year deal keeping him at the club until the end of 2024 with an option for two more years concluding in 2026.

He joined in 2019, was sensational in 2020 becoming the 186th player to be named in the Dream Team and after a difficult 2021 has been lightning in 2022 scoring tries for fun and linking masterfully with Jai Field.

He played a key role in Wigan’s record breaking 20th Challenge Cup Final win scoring a lovely try helped along by Field and he is now looking forward to future at Wigan taking to Twitter to say after the announcement: “Really looking forward to the next couple of years at Wigan, it’s been an enjoyable three and a half years and looking forward to the next and hopefully winning more silverware.

“Can’t wait to play in front of you at the DW again.”

A message from Bevan 😍#WWRL #FrenchStays pic.twitter.com/PEFvovqnNa

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) September 20, 2022

He would go on to elaborate more on why he’s chosen to stay at Wigan despite the fact reports down under suggested that a move to Newcastle Knights was a done deal.

He told Wigan TV: “I’m very happy to get it sorted. It’s exciting times ahead. Looking at the squad it’s very exciting and I’ve really enjoyed my time here. Hopefully I get to make more memories over the next couple of years.”

He went on to focus on the fans’ role in him signing a new deal, identifying them as the main reason for why he has stayed at the club: “I just wanted to say thank you for being so understanding since I’ve moved here, they’ve been very welcoming and they’re the nicest bunch of people I’ve met.

“The community of Wigan are definitely passionate about their rugby league. They go the extra mile to make everyone feel welcome and ensure everyone is doing well.

“They are very passionate, especially over the last year. They’ve been very supportive and understanding. It’s a joy to play for a crowd like that. It’s wonderful we get to do it here at the DW.

“It’s something Matty focused on, building that connection with the community. Looking forward to the next couple of years at the DW.”

💬 “The community of Wigan go the extra mile to make everyone feel welcome. They’ve been very supportive of me and I can’t thank them enough. It’s a joy to play for a crowd like that.”

Full interview with Bevan: https://t.co/X3BrP9q2kH#WWRL #FrenchStays pic.twitter.com/9BWERKgAGX

— Wigan Warriors 🍒⚪️ (@WiganWarriorsRL) September 20, 2022

This is not surprising with the way the club has supported him in 2022 after the tragic passing of his mother.

To have the season he’s had after that, and after the drawbacks of having family in Australia brought on by the pandemic, French deserves massive praise.

This season didn’t end the way he’d have wanted it to limping off in a play-off defeat to Leeds, but he’ll be out to right that wrong in 2023 and could be unstoppable.

You can watch his full interview here.