One of the new arrivals at the South Sydney Rabbitohs, veteran utility Euan Aitken has opened up on his decision to follow Lachlan Hubner and Wayne Bennett to the club after a two-year stint at The Dolphins.
Nearing 200 matches in the NRL, Aiken has been performing at a high level since 2015 and enjoyed stints with the St George Illawarra Dragons, New Zealand Warriors and Dolphins.
However, his latest decision has seen the five-time Scottish international return home to New South Wales and play for the Rabbitohs.
As the Rabbitohs entered a new era under Wayne Bennett, he was one of six new signings brought to the club as they attempted to rebuild their roster and move off the bottom of the ladder after finishing second-last in 2024.
In an exclusive interview withย Zero Tackle, Aitken revealed that being closer to his family was the main reason behind moving clubs and signing with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, which reunited him with coach Wayne Bennett.
"That was a difficult one, but I think what ultimately wanted me to come back this way is just probably to be closer to family," Aitken told Zero Tackle.
"I moved out of home when I was 16 and moved five hours away from my family, so it's sort of something that's always been a bit further away from family than I would have liked.
"Coming back to Sydney was at least a little bit easier for them to come visit me and come down home.
"It's a very proud club with lots of loyal supporters and especially in this part of Sydney you can see Rabbitohs always on cars and on streets, fences and all that sort of things.
"You can tell it means a lot to the community here and it was special to finally get a game for the Rabbitohs."
Making his debut for the Rabbitohs in Round 6, Aitken's arrival was plagued by a pec injury that he sustained in July of the previous year, meaning he has only trained with the club for just over a month and missed the whole pre-season block.
However, since returning to the field, he has played against the North Queensland Cowboys, Canterbury Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm and will now prepare to face Newcastle Knights in Queensland at Magic Round.
Used as either a centre or back-rower, he has scored one try, made one line-break, 91 tackles and averaged 79 running metres per match.
"There has been a bit of adversity with my pre-season with a couple of surgeries, and I only really trained maybe a month with the team so far, so that's been a bit of a challenge, but at the end of the day, it's all the same, just for a different team," Aitken said.
"It was quite difficult coming to a new club. You're sort of out of sync with everyone else and you're doing your own thing.
"You'd be on the bike when everyone's on the field. You'd be in the gym when everyone's eating food. You're a little out of sync but I was probably thankful that there are a couple of boys in rehab - that sort of made that transition a bit easier.
"I'm also happy outside of football. I have a lovely wife and daughter and another one on the way, so there's plenty of things going on for me outside of football that keep me nice and level and happy.
"My wife's been a rock for me and my family and she's followed me around a fair bit now. There are a lot of sacrifices on her end with her job and having emergencies as an emergency nurse.
"She's had to sacrifice her progression, her job, but she's been good with a lot of sacrifice and the family starting now is rewarding."
