Widnes Vikings have confirmed that Sam Wilde will return to the club in 2022 after signing a two-year deal at the DCBL Stadium.

He will see out his current contract at Newcastle Thunder before re-joining the Vikings for the next two seasons.

The 25-year-old originally joined Widnes on a short term loan deal in 2017, before signing a permanent deal a year later to remain with the club until the end of 2020.

Wilde left the club to take up an opportunity with Ottawa Aces, who were due to join League 1 this season, before the Canadian outfit were ultimately unable to enter the competition.

This led to the back rower joining Newcastle Thunder, where he will see out the 2021 campaign.

He made 66 appearances across four seasons in his first spell with the Widnes Vikings, scoring 14 tries.

*The Betfred Championship is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, and consists of 14 teams, with promotion to the Super League and relegation to the third-tier competition, League 1. The league is sponsoring by Betfred with the current champions being the Toronto Wolfpack, who were winners of the 2019 season. The 2020 season was cancelled in its entirety due to the COVID-19 pandemic.