Wade was born in Hobart on 26 December 1987. He is the son of Scott Wade, an Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn in the Victorian Football League (VFL), for Clarence and Hobart in the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), and served a long tenure as CEO of AFL Tasmania. His grandfather, Michael Wade, served as president of the Hobart Football Club. Wade is the cousin of Collingwood Football Club defender Jeremy Howe.

Wade represented Tasmania in junior cricket and junior football, vice-captaining the Tassie Mariners in the TAC Cup, where he played alongside future Australian Football League players Sam Lonergan, Grant Birchall and Jack Riewoldt. He represented Australia at the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup.

At the age of 16, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, and received two rounds of chemotherapy before he was cleared of the disease.

Wade is colourblind. He has suffered difficulties on the field due to the colours of certain cricket balls.

Originally from Hobart, Tasmania, Wade played both cricket and Australian rules football until the age of 19, participating in the 2006 Under-19 Cricket World Cup as well as playing underage football for the Tassie Mariners in the TAC Cup. After representing Tasmania in one List A match, he moved to Victoria for the 2007–08 season to further his opportunities. He soon established himself as Victoria's first-choice wicket-keeper, and was selected in the Australia A side in 2010, and made his debut for Australia the following season.

Wade played one List A match for the Tasmania Tigers in the 2006–07 Ford Ranger One Day Cup season, which was his only match for Tasmania in any form of the game. His opportunities to be s