Kallum Watkins reveals journey from ball-boy to captain at beloved Salford Red Devils

Salford Red Devils announced yesterday that Kallum Watkins would be the club’s captain for the 2023 season with the Manchester-born lad honoured by the role.

With former skipper Elijah Taylor having headed into the Championship to link up with Featherstone Rovers there was a void at the captaincy role for the Red Devils and it’s since been filled.

The likes of Adam Sidlow who has joined from Leigh, where he had previously been co-captain, and Marc Sneyd had been in the running but the club announced that Watkins would take the role on.

In an interview with Betfred published to their Youtube channel, Watkins detailed what his journey in rugby league to eventually signing for Salford was like, even revealing he was a ball-boy at one stage.

“It’s been great, I’ve really enjoyed my time at Salford. For me it was obviously a difficult time around Covid and lockdown but they gave me an opportunity so I’m really grateful for that,” Watkins revealed.

He’d previously signed with Toronto Wolfpack but with the onset of the pandemic and financial issues the club ceased to exist meaning Watkins never played for them.

Instead that provided an opportunity down the line to represent Salford.

“Being my hometown club, the team that I supported as a kid. I used to ball-boy here as well.

“I didn’t think I’d get the opportunity to play at Salford but when it did come to fruition I took it with both hands. Hopefully we have  a really big year in 2023.”

Asked about what success looks like a Red Devils’ shirt, Watkins was bullish on his side’s chances.

“For us it’s competing with the best, competing at the top and we’ve got the players and squad that can provide that so for us it’s about winning. For me it’s all about winning.

“A big thing for us is getting onto a big start, we did that last year but we couldn’t continue it so for us it’s about building consistency but it’s about building.

“We’ve got a really good squad with a mix of young and experienced players, some good leaders as well so we’ll set the standards high.”

The Red Devils open their Super League campaign with a trip to newly promoted Leigh, who they will face twice in their opening eight games alongside four other bottom half teams from 2022 which could provide a platform for Salford to build on.