Watts on milestone appearances

Castleford’s last two fixtures marked landmark milestones for local lad Liam Watts who ran out for his 300th Super League and 350th career appearances recently.

Liam sat down with castlefordtigers.com to reflect on two important moments in his rugby league career and began by stating that he expected it to take a few more years before reaching that many matches.

“I thought it would be a few more years down the line before I reached that number! It’s a really big achievement for me which I’m proud of.

“Over the last 12 or 13 seasons that I’ve been involved in at the top tier I have probably averaged about 25 games a season so I’m pretty happy with that. I’ve been lucky with injuries so it’s a nice career milestone and hopefully, I’ve got a few more in the legs yet.”

The 33-year-old made his first senior appearance for his hometown club when the Tigers were drawn against local club Lock Lane in the Challenge Cup back in 2007.

‘Wattsy’ has made a total of 119 appearances for the Fords over two spells and the prop put forward that being able to achieve his recent milestones at the club close to his heart made it all the more poignant.

“It meant a lot to hit those milestones with this club because it all started here. My first appearance was here at just 16 years old in the Challenge Cup against my old amateur club in Lock Lane which was a special moment.

“To be here now 350 games in is something that you would never think would happen because as a young kid coming through, you’re just happy to play one never mind get to that number of games. I have enjoyed every single one of them.”

“There’s plenty of boys here who I have played with through the years and it’s always special to hit those milestones together. Obviously to play with Westy on his 400th at Magic Weekend and he was with me on my 350th so it’s crazy to be hitting 750 games between us.

“It’s a lovely thing to be involved in because I’m sure I’ll look back at the shirt and be proud of that moment.”

There have been plenty of memorable moments for Liam in a Cas jersey, being involved in big play-off victories and a trip to Wembley.

When asked about what his standout memory would be during his time with the Tigers, Liam pinpointed a 2021 Cup semi-final success which will live long in the memory.

“My highlight of the games at Cas would be the Challenge Cup semi-final against Warrington in 2021 because we went across there as underdogs. That was one of the biggest games I’ve played in and to get to the Challenge Cup Final was incredible.

“That day we played some of the best rugby we’d played for a while, so it was probably the standout game I’ve been involved in to date.”

Castleford’s next match sees them back on the road as they head to Hull for the second time in as many weeks to take on Hull KR at Sewell Group Craven Park.

In closing, the Tigers forward outlined that the pack are ready to give everything for what will be a crucial couple of months to round off the season.  

“I and the rest of the boys will be continuing to put that effort in over the next eight to ten weeks. The lads are training hard, and I will be giving everything over these last few games for us to get over the line.”