Castleford Tigers prop Liam Watts opens up on disciplinary issues as he targets new deal

The 32-year-old joined Castleford from Hull FC in 2018 and has made over 100 appearances for the club.

Watts' game time has been restricted by disciplinary issues, with the imposing prop receiving nine bans in the last 18 months.

The experienced forward's future is up in the air as he approaches the end of his contract, which he admits has caused him some anxiety.

"I definitely want to play on," said Watts.

"First and foremost, I want to try sort a deal out here at Castleford. It's my hometown club and I've been here for the last six years now so I need to do myself justice.

"Whether they want to do that, I don't know. We'll see what comes.

"I just want to play. I've been thinking about it day and night having sleepless nights over what I'm going to do and where I'm going to be.

"I'm putting that to the back of my mind now and just want to enjoy playing."

Last season, Watts had to sit out nine of the club's 29 matches after being suspended on six occasions.

Watts spoke in the off-season about losing some of his love for the game and has been banned three times since to increase his frustration.

"It is really hard," he said.

"I grew up watching the likes of Adrian Morley, Jamie Peacock and Jimmy Lowes and it does get frustrating but times are changing and we’re living in a generation where we're not the same breed of people that we used to be.

"It is disheartening but that's just the way the cookie is seeming to crumble at the minute.

"Don't get me wrong, I still love the game and want to carry on playing but I've just got to get in the right frame of mind of what I can and can't do anymore."

Two of Watts' bans this year have been for dangerous contact and the other for a late hit.

He admits he is still struggling with the clampdown on foul play but believes there is an element of his reputation going before him.

"It's a fine balance and a millisecond sometimes," said Watts.

"It's a mentality that's been driven into you. You still see stuff that's going off today that doesn't get brought up but I just seem to be in the spotlight 24/7.

"I read the comments sometimes and they put 'dangerous contact' on there and people automatically think I've just whacked someone in the back.

"It's not like that. There's all sorts of different types of dangerous contact. I got done for falling on the back of someone's leg which was just a tackle that couldn't be helped.

"I've seen that tackle a thousand times and have had it done to myself. It's just rugby league."

Watts will return from his latest suspension when Warrington Wolves visit Wheldon Road tomorrow night.

The front-rower is hoping to get the balance right between now and the end of the season in his bid to land a new contract.

"I'm just trying to play as clean as possible without being too soft," he said.

"I've still got to have that edge physically and keep on the front foot. We haven't got the biggest pack so I've got to try and play with some sort of aggression and size about me.

"I am trying and doing everything possible in training to try cut out those little errors in my game. It's a fast, physical sport and sometimes it's hard to fully eradicate it."