‘Crazy money’: Danny McGuire’s intriguing Liam Watts comments after Hull FC move
Liam Watts has signed for Hull FC.
Castleford Tigers coach Danny McGuire admits he didn’t see Liam Watts’ move to Hull FC coming after the prop told McGuire he couldn’t manage a full-time environment any longer: but he said he understands why Watts has taken the ‘crazy money’ to return to the Black and Whites.
Watts was released by Castleford last week before almost immediately landing a deal with his former club. He had barely featured for the Tigers in the first four league and cup games of 2025.
And McGuire has now lifted the lid on why the prop exited the club – revealing that Watts’ body was ‘letting him down’ and he couldn’t do what Castleford wanted him to do.
That left Watts asking to be released after, in McGuire’s words, the prop said he ‘couldn’t manage and live with a full-time environment’. The Tigers then assumed he would be heading part-time for the latter part of his career.
But instead, Watts signed a deal until the end of this season at Hull FC. And McGuire said while the split between the parties was amicable, he was shocked to see him sign another full-time deal.
“I didn’t see it coming if I’m honest,” McGuire admitted. “We had a really good amicable honest chat about where Wattsy was at. The club’s understanding was that he wanted to transition into the next part of his career and we assumed that was part-time alongside doing some work.
“His body was letting him down a little bit and he couldn’t do what we needed to. We’re trying to create a team where you come in and work hard and you’re committed and Wattsy couldn’t quite give us that.
“I wanted him to be part of that and he did stuff in stages but he approached the club saying he couldn’t manage and live with a full-time environment. He was struggling to commit to that.”
McGuire then hinted Watts’ training schedule at Hull would be lighter, before suggesting the prop was offered ‘crazy money’ to re-sign there.
He said: “He’s been a good servant and we felt it was in the right way to go about it to granting him an opportunity to look elsewhere. If a club comes in and says you don’t have to train and they throw crazy money at you I can see why he’s taken that. Good luck to him.”
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