Liam Watts

Liam Watts (born 8 July 1990) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop for the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. He is an England Knights international.

Liam Watts
Personal information
Full nameLiam Watts
Born (1990-07-08) 8 July 1990
Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Weight16 st 13 lb (108 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–12 Hull Kingston Rovers 64 7 0 0 28
2009(loan) → Gateshead Thunder 12 1 0 0 4
2012–18 Hull F.C. 152 11 0 0 44
2014(loan) → Doncaster 3 1 0 0 4
2018– Castleford Tigers 66 5 0 0 20
Total 297 25 0 0 100
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011 England Knights 1 0 0 0 0
2019– England 9s 3 0 0 0 0
As of 24 December 2020
Source: [2][3]

He has previously played for Hull Kingston Rovers in the Super League, and on loan from Hull Kingston Rovers at Gateshead Thunder in League 1. He spent seven seasons at Hull F.C., playing on loan for Doncaster in 2014.

Background

Watts was born in Featherstone,[4] West Yorkshire, England, and he was a junior at Featherstone Lions.

Career

He made his professional debut for Hull Kingston Rovers in a Challenge Cup fourth round tie in April 2008,[5] and signed a two-year contract until the end of the 2010 season in June 2008.[6] After a fine season in 2010 in which Watts played 26 of 27 Super League matches, he was called up to the England training squad for the Four Nations Championship in September 2010,[7] and awarded the 2010 Albert Goldthorpe Rookie of the Year Medal.[8]

Watts requested to be released from his contract with Hull Kingston Rovers in June 2012,[9] and joined Hull F.C. on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[10] Hull coach Peter Gentle said: "Liam is certainly a promising player for the future and we are looking forward to helping him realise his potential".[11] He signed a new three-year contract in July 2014,[12] and a further two-year contract in March 2017.[13]

He won the Challenge Cup with Hull in 2016[14][15] and 2017 at Wembley Stadium.[16][17]

Watts signed a three-year deal until the end of the 2020 season with Castleford Tigers in March 2018,[17] and a three-year extension until the end of the 2023 season in July 2019.[18]

International career

Good performances for Castleford saw Watts called up for the England Performance squad in March 2019.[19][4]

He was selected in England 9s squad for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s.[20]

References
  1. "Hull 1st Team Liam Watts". Hull FC. Hull FC. 2015. Archived from the original on 21 May 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. loverugbyleague
  3. Rugby League Project
  4. Craven, Dave (25 March 2019). "Castleford Tigers' Liam Watts left surprised as he gets call-up for England". Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  5. "Morgan turns to youth for Cup tie". BBC Sport. 18 April 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  6. "Watts handed new Hull KR contract". BBC Sport. 3 June 2008. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  7. "Liam Watts and Scott Murrell in shock England call-up". BBC Sport. 20 September 2010. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  8. "The Albert Goldthorpe Awards". totalrl.com. League Publications. Archived from the original on 26 March 2014. Retrieved 16 February 2014.
  9. "Prop Liam Watts requests Hull Kingston Rovers release". BBC Sport. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  10. "Hull FC sign prop Liam Watts from rivals Hull KR". BBC Sport. 22 June 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  11. "Hull sign up Watts". Sky Sports. 22 June 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  12. "Super League: Liam Watts signs new three-year deal with Hull FC". Sky Sports. 30 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  13. "Liam Watts and Jordan Abdull extend stay at Hull FC". Sky Sports. 17 March 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  14. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  15. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  16. "Hull FC 18-14 Wigan recap as the Black and Whites claim back-to-back Challenge Cup triumphs". Mirror. 26 August 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
  17. "Liam Watts: Castleford Tigers sign Hull FC prop for 'significant fee'". BBC Sport. 14 March 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2018.
  18. "Liam Watts: Castleford Tigers prop agrees three-year contract extension". BBC Sport. 4 July 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  19. Jackson, William (26 March 2019). "Former Hull FC prop Liam Watts 'shocked' by England call-up". Hull Live. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  20. "Sam Tomkins eager to lift inaugural World 9s title with England Down Under". Mirror. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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