Kallum Watkins: Salford Red Devils' centre faces former club Leeds Rhinos

A regular in finals during his Leeds days, Kallum Watkins (right) is set to line up against the Rhinos for Salford on Saturday

Kallum Watkins has a medal collection that would be the envy of most.

In a 12-year career at Leeds Rhinos, he was a winner in three Super League Grand Finals, two Challenge Cup finals and a World Club Challenge.

But winning this year's Challenge Cup just weeks after signing for hometown club Salford - against the side with whom he enjoyed so much success - might just top the lot.

"It probably will," he said. "If we lift that trophy, it's going to be right up there."

Watkins is a Salford lad and spent his childhood supporting them, but most of his adult life has been led as an adopted favourite son of Leeds.

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Now those two worlds will collide when his new club face his old one in Saturday's Challenge Cup final at Wembley.

The centre learned his rugby league in the shadows of The Willows, Salford's old ground. His talent was nurtured at local community clubs Langworthy and Folly Lane. And, as a Salford fan, he became a regular ball boy on match days.

"The club means a great deal to me," said Watkins. "I grew up watching them at The Willows.

"Gary Broadbent was my favourite player when I first started to watch in 1996 and 1997. I started being a ball boy in the early 2000s and I was in and amongst it.

"The Northern Rail Cup final, to get back into Super League when they'd been relegated; I went to those games and they're great memories for me. And I just wanted to push on and be a professional player."

Kallum Watkins joined his hometown club Salford on a three-year deal in September

Watkins' talent was spotted early, but that talent was destined to take him away from familiar surroundings.

After a spell on Warrington's books, he was snapped up by Leeds as a 16-year-old and went on to enjoy a trophy-rich career at Headingley. Cup final appearances were almost annual events. He established himself as an England regular.

"We had some ups and some downs, but the ups were massive," says Watkins about his Leeds career.

"The 2017 Grand Final was the big one for me, just because the year before we had adversity and we went under the radar. We played against a Castleford team (in the final) that had beaten us heavily three or four times and nobody expected us to win.

"We won against the odds which made it special, and it felt just a little bit different to the other times."

That same year, he was also just an agonising moment away from helping England win the World Cup.

He still grimaces at the memory of Australia centre Josh Dugan desperately diving to tap his ankle and thwart the break that might have helped England lift the trophy.

"If I wasn't wearing studs I might have been alright," he recalled with a laugh. "I thought I was in the clear, but it just needed that little touch and it knocked my balance off and I just couldn't get it back.

"It could have changed everything," Watkins sighs.

Kallum Watkins reflects on what might have been after England's 2017 World Cup final loss to Australia

Australia held on for a 6-0 win in an epic final in Brisbane.

"But that eight weeks was huge, it was probably the best time of my life," he quickly added. "That memory won't go away.

"We were that close to winning it. That gives me a lot of motivation. I want to get back playing at that level. We've got a World Cup next year and we want to be successful."

It has, however, been a tough last couple of years for Watkins.

Things started to go wrong the season after the World Cup when an anterior cruciate knee ligament injury in May 2018 left him sidelined for the rest of the campaign.

When he came back, he was a long way short of the form that had made him one of the country's most feared centres and midway through the season he left Headingley to move to the Gold Coast Titans in the National Rugby League in Australia.

"Injuries happen, it's how you deal with them," said the 29-year-old.

"I probably pushed myself to come back too early and it showed. It showed in my performances. I wasn't in top shape.

"The world probably changed for me a little bit, the last two years have been a bit of a rollercoaster."

The NRL did not see the best of him in the handful of games he got to play, and he cut short his time in Australia to move his family back home in April when his father tested positive with Covid-19.

Initially, Watkins signed for Toronto, but was left in limbo when the Wolfpack withdrew from this year's Super League - with no certainty of them returning next year.

When other offers came his way, it was his boyhood favourites he chose.

"It's amazing. When I signed, it was always going to be a special moment," he said.

The fates have now conspired that after only four games with his new club, he will line up in a cup final against his former employers.

He laughs as he anticipates the occasion.

"I've not played against them before and I'll be playing against them in a cup final," said Watkins. "That's what is making it strange.

"I'm playing against a lot of my mates as well and we're going to be competing against each other to lift a trophy.

"I've not been in that kind of position before where I've played against a lot of my friends that I grew up with and a lot of young players that were coming through that I tried to help as much as I could.

"But it's an honour as well, playing against a top side like Leeds in a final. Given that it's for Salford, my hometown club, makes it that little bit extra special. I'm really excited."

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