Gold Coast Titans release Kallum Watkins on compassionate grounds

Drew Darbyshire 18 Apr 2020 11:41 AM

Gold Coast Titans have granted a request from Kallum Watkins for an immediate release so he can return to England due to personal reasons.

The 29-year-old joined the Titans from Leeds midway through the 2019 season on a deal until the end of 2021.

Watkins has now been released from the Gold Coast over “serious family health concerns” back home, with the centre and his family set to move back to England immediately.

Titans coach Justin Holbrook said: “Kallum has only been here for a short time, but he is an immensely popular guy in the playing group.

“Every day he exhibited the qualities that the club wanted from him – namely his leadership and his professionalism.

“I am mostly just bitterly disappointed for Kallum – firstly that he has to endure this awful situation with health concerns with family members, and secondly that he has had to walk away from his dream of proving himself in the NRL.

“He worked incredibly hard in the off-season, and that hard work was evident in the form we saw from him at the start of the season – in the trial against the Broncos, and then our two premiership games against Canberra and Parramatta.

“For him to have to walk away now just as he was getting back to his best is devastating for him, and for us as his friends.

“But family always comes first, and we would never stand in Kallum’s way of doing what is best for his family in a very difficult time. He leaves the Titans with our thanks and best wishes, for him and his family.”

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