Watts remains a free agent ahead of the 2026 season.
Hull FC prop Liam Watts. (Image: SW PIX)
As Christmas approaches, most rugby league players are back in pre-season training, preparing for the upcoming season.
But that does not apply to everyone. For a small number of players, their futures remain uncertain as they await the right move ahead of the 2026 season.
Among them is Liam Watts. The Super League stalwart is currently without a club heading into next season, following his departure from Hull FC at the end of the season.
Now 35 and with 336 Super League appearances to his name, Watts wants to go around again. He has used his recent time wisely and is hopeful that he has a job lined up away from the game, but there remains a plan to play next year.
“I got some funding from Rugby League Cares to put towards my driving course for HGVs,” Watts said. “I’ve been doing that, and I actually passed my test last week, so I’m pretty over the moon with that.
“I’ve hopefully got a job for the start of January, so I’m currently just waiting about and taking every day as it comes, enjoying some downtime.
“I knew last year it was going to be my last year full-time, then I went to Hull and got a new lease of life. Unfortunately, I got a couple of injuries which I’ve never really had in my career, but it meant I could put things in place, reach out to a few people while also training hard to recover and get fit.”
Despite plans beyond rugby being down the track, Watts remains enthused about playing again next year, and potentially beyond that.
“In my mind, I could do another year of Super League and fully retire or go working and play part-time, and I feel I have another few years in me.
“The break I had this year helped, I think. When I came back at the end it was the best I’ve felt for a few years and I was playing about 60 minutes, which is the best I’ve felt engine-wise.
“But I looked at it and thought if I get a job now there’s probably a few more years in me. If you look at some of the guys in the competition at the minute, there’s Brett Ferres, Suaia Matagia, Pauli Pauli, they’re not young anymore but can sustain playing in that league because it’s competitive.
“It’s rough and tumble too, which will suit me more coming to the back end of my career. It’s rough and ready, there are people who want to have a shot at you, I want to embrace that. It’s the way I like to play and I’m looking forward to that part of it.”
As it stands, there is nothing lined up.
“I’d been having conversations with Sheffield, and I felt there was an option there, but in the end there wasn’t and that blew me back a little bit.
“The message I’m getting from a lot of clubs is that the gradings have put a blocker on teams so they’re just sticking to the budget they can afford unless they’ve got a realistic chance of going up. London are spending big money, but below that, a lot are sticking to their budgets.
“Like I said, Sheffield blew me back a little bit, I could have signed there in February with Linners (Craig Lingard) going there, I’d played under him before, but by the time I came around to it, it was off the table.”
Watts is aware that there is a reality that his professional career might be over.
“At the end of the day, if nothing comes up, nothing comes up,” he said. “But you never know what will happen. When I was leaving Cas, I never in a million years thought I’d be signing back at Hull FC.
“Funnily enough, somebody had messaged me probably two or three weeks before saying I’d end up back there and I said not to be so daft with the money they were spending and the team they’d put together, then I got the phone call from Richie. So you just never know.”
Reflecting on his latest stint with the Black and Whites, Watts looks back on it fondly.
“Richie said he wanted a bit of the old winning mentality back, they’d brought Gaz Ellis back in, and obviously I’m well connected to Danny Houghton, Andy Last and Danny Washbrook. He said if I wanted to be part of it short-term and see what happens long-term, the offer was there.
“It was nice to get back there. It was just a matter of timing about not staying really. I got misdiagnosed with one of my injuries, which sort of put me back five weeks more than what I should have been. They were treating me for something that was completely different to what I was injured with, and it was just one of those things with the scan result and obviously sometimes they’re not clear cut.
“They I had a flare up with my Achilles tendon, and once I got back I did my knee in training, it was just an unfortunate accident with Amir and my leg got tangled up. Obviously, RIchie was putting a squad together and had signed Harvie Hill, Sam Lisone and a few other forwards. Liam Knight ended up staying. They did offer me a contract but it wasn’t enough for me to live on.”
Watts added: “Whatever’s in store for me next, if my time’s up, that’s that. I always said I wanted to finish on my terms, it is why I ended up leaving Cas because I didn’t just want to be sat on the sidelines for my last full-time year. I went somewhere to finish on my terms.”