Former Penrith Panthers forward Trent Waterhouse has revealed he has no regrets over his move to the English Super League where he finished his career.
The forward, who made his debut at the Penrith Panthers in 2002, would play with the club through to the end of 2011, racking up 187 NRL matches over the journey and also playing off the bench in the famous 2003 grand final win over the Sydney Roosters for the men from the foot of the mountains.
A stalwart of the club, the now 43-year-old exited the club at the end of 2011 and revealed on the Unfilteredย podcast with Andy Raymond that it came down to job security and Penrith's salary cap, with the forward having no regrets over his move not to finish his career in the NRL, which may well have robbed him of a 200-game milestone or beyond.
Instead, Waterhouse signed a three-year deal with the Warrington Wolves.
"Yeah, I think it definitely was [the right time]," Waterhouse said on the podcast.
"We had a few tough years at Penrith, and I think Gus [Phil Gould] and Ivan [Cleary] were coming in the next year. The salary cap was a bit busted, so they said they could give us a one-year deal.
"I spoke to my manager and said is there any interest overseas? He said St Helens and Warrington were keen, and it was three-year deals. So I thought it was a good opportunity, it was something I always wanted to do. I loved playing over there on the tours and that, so if the right opportunity came up, I was just going to take it.
"Warrington was a strong club on the up, so I ended up signing with them for three years and had a great time."
The former Panther, who won a Challenge Cup in England and played in Super League grand finals during his 59 games with the Wolves said that he enjoyed the style of game in England, although not so much the weather during the early part of the year.
"It was a breath of fresh air getting over there. They played a pretty expansive style of footy the Warrington boys, not as much wrestling, the game was a bit more free-flowing so I loved it," he said.
"We played some big games too. We played at Wembley, we played at Old Trafford, so some great experiences. We won the Challenge Cup at Wembley and got rolled in a couple of grand finals. I reckon we should have won the first one.
"But I had a ball other than the weather early on in the year. We played in snow a couple of times."
Waterhouse, who represented the Exiles in England - a team made up of the best Super League players not born in England - also played five State of Origins for New South Wales and 12 Tests for Australia throughout his career.
