Liam Watts gives reason for Castleford Tigers exit and talks ‘surprising’ Hull FC move

New Hull FC signing Liam Watts has detailed the reasons behind his Castleford Tigers exit and spoken on his ‘surprise’ move to Hull FC.

The Super League stalwart was released by Castleford Tigers late on Thursday evening with the club releasing a statement to confirm Watts’ exit. It came after he failed to play in any of the three Super League games this season despite the Tigers having a clear lack of go-forward in their pack.

Liam Watts commented within that statement as he explained that the split was about “what works best for both parties” and he’s now explained a little bit more, after signing for Hull FC.

Hull FC announced on Monday that they had re-signed Watts who has previously played 152 games for the club with the prop being the third addition to the forward pack, following Liam Knight and loanee Sam Eseh.

Watts spoke to BBC Radio Humberside to explain his release from Cas, his move to FC and also his future plans, with the prop confirming this could be his final year in Super League thus he wants to make the most of it.

He said: “Obviously, I’ve not been playing at Castleford so I’ve not been upset but I am tinkering on this being my last year in Super League and I want to go out on my terms and I want to be playing as much as possible.

“I think I’m currently on about 380 games and I’d have liked to get to 400 in my career so that’s what my aim was at the start of this year when I had a good chat with Magsy, and I’ve not played for the first three games.”

Liam Watts gives reason for Castleford Tigers exit and talks ‘surprising’ Hull FC move

Whilst Watts has not played in Super League at all, he did play in the Challenge Cup defeat against Bradford Bulls although the 34-year-old has expressed that he was disappointed with his minutes in that game anyway.

“I played in the Challenge Cup against Bradford and only got 10 or 15 minutes there and minutes have definitely been reduced to what I’m normally playing,” he confirmed.

“Yeah, I understand that’s with an age thing and I expressed to Danny that this will probably be my last year in Super League so I just want to be playing as much as possible.

“Game time has been low and then just a few things have escalated very quickly. There was talk of me going to Championship and potentially looking there to get some game time.”

That search for game time saw Hull FC approach him on the back of his release from Castleford, something the two-time Challenge Cup winner stated was surprising.

Watts said: “It was just me looking at my options and when Hull came in for me, which was late last week, after I announced that I would be leaving Castleford. Hull came in and I was very very surprised and shocked because there was talk of Liam Knight signing there and Sam Eseh so I was surprised that there was still talk to bring another middle in.

“I had a good chat with them, had a good chat with John and Richie and it appealed to me. I’m not shying away from the age that I am but I said ‘I’m ready to go when you need me’. I think this week is going to come too soon and then I’m cup-tied for next week so I’ve got a couple of weeks to prove I’m ready.”

Hull FC play Leigh Leopards on Thursday night, a match Watts concedes may come too early, before taking on Wigan Warriors in the Challenge Cup.  Watts cannot play in that after representing Castleford, meaning the first opportunity for his debut would be in Round Five when the Black and Whites face Wakefield Trinity.