Kallym Watkins in line to celebrate milestone moment at Leeds Rhinos

'Every minute matters' was the slogan produced by the Rugby Football League to mark the new competition format and it has particular resonance for Kallum Watkins as he prepares to make his 200th appearance for Leeds.
Kallum Watkins.Kallum Watkins.
Kallum Watkins.

Friday’s Super League encounter with Wigan at Headingley will be the England centre’s 44th in a row for the Rhinos and he has played every minute of those games, a total of 3,420, which equates to 57 hours.

Durable Watkins, 26, also played every minute of the Four Nations Series for his country and his only rest came in October’s international against France in Avignon.

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“I only played an hour in that,” said Watkins. “Obviously not being in the forwards, you’re never really going to get taken off unless you’re injured.

“My position is tough and it’s hard work at times, but it makes you think of the forwards going through the tough stuff throughout those minutes. They need that rest.

“It’s not something I think about too much. I just go out there and do a job and aim to be consistent.”

Manchester-born Watkins, who made his debut for Leeds in a Challenge Cup tie against Celtic Crusaders in April, 2008, has enjoyed a relatively clean bill of health since undergoing a knee reconstruction in 2010.

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He has not missed a game since their Super 8s game with Catalans Dragons towards the end of the 2015 season and he is delighted to get the chance to reach his milestone at Headingley.

“It’s a huge thing for me, especially here as well and playing Wigan,” he said. “It’s an honour to play that many games for a fantastic club. I’m immensely proud of that.

“It will be a big challenge for us on Friday, it always is against Wigan. The main focus is getting a good result.”

Leeds have enjoyed three good results since their fortunes hit rock bottom with a Super League record 66-10 defeat at Castleford a month ago, a humiliation that is now firmly behind them.

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“We hope so,” continued Watkins. “We just needed to react to it, talk to each other and be honest with each other.”

Leeds coach Brian McDermott has since talked up his team’s Grand Final prospects and Watkins, who was the club’s player of the year during their treble-winning season in 2015, admits the team have their eyes on more silverware.

“It’s something that we’ve always targeted,” he said. “We want to be successful. This is what the club is all about. We want to win trophies, we want to be right up there near the top.

“But we can’t get ahead of ourselves. It’s a hard league and the response we’ve had has been pretty good, but we can’t be content with that, we need to keep that going now.

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“Confidence is pretty good and the boys are going well, but we need to be consistent. Those things will come in the end.”

More good news for the Rhinos is that long-term casualty Keith Galloway is within sight of his return.

The Australian former Test prop has not played since suffering a ruptured Achilles in Rhinos’ penultimate game of 2016, away to Huddersfield Giants, last September. But he is now stepping up training and is hoping to be back on the field at some stage next month.

Galloway joined Rhinos from Wests Tigers at the end of 2015 and made 30 appearances in his debut campaign, being selected by coach Brian McDermott as runner-up in Leeds’s player-of-the-year awards.

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His return will be a boost to a Rhinos pack that has been devastated by injuries and suspensions this term.

“I have been back running for a couple of weeks,” confirmed the 31-year-old front-row.

“I am aiming for around the Easter weekend, so I am not too far off. As long as I keep training hard and build it up and I don’t have any setbacks, it will probably be around then.”

Huddersfield will be without stand-off Danny Brough for their visit to Betfred Super League leaders Castleford on Friday because of suspension.

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The Scotland captain was given a one-match ban and a £300 fine after admitting a grade B offence of punching during his side’s 28-12 defeat by Leeds last Friday.

Brough was sent to the sin bin after clashing with Leeds second rower Carl Ablett and appeared in front of a Rugby Football League independent disciplinary hearing in Leeds yesterday.

Wakefield have announced a two-year contract extension for head coach Chris Chester.

The 38-year-old former Hull KR boss has been in charge of Trinity for just over 12 months and guided them to the top eight of Super League in his first season as well as the semi-finals of the Challenge Cup.

Hull KR have signed former Huddersfield Giants prop Josh Johnson – from Redcliffe Dolphins, the Australian reserve grade club – on a deal until the end of the season.