Kallum Watkins: Leeds Rhinos’ stars of the future are deserving of recognition

Everybody wants to get to that point and I was pleased to be named in the England elite performance squad this week and delighted we’ve got five players in the Knights team.

That is good for the club going forward because players like Jack Walker, Liam Sutcliffe, Cam Smith, Mikolaj Oledzki and Ash Handley are the future of Leeds Rhinos.

Cam deserves his call-up and the other four went on the tour to Papua New Guinea last year, which was a really successful one and now they’ve had a taste they will want to kick on and play more internationals.

It shows we do have the young talent in our side and the future for the club is bright. It is tough times at the moment, but these youngsters are getting the game time and experience and they will be better for it.

They are learning the hard way, but they are playing every week and consistently getting better.

Both squads, England and the Knights, are strong and that highlights how much talent we have coming through in this country.

How England went in 2018 was great so things look promising on the international stage in terms of how many players are progressing and coming through.

The England squad is a young and exciting one and there is a lot to look forward to at the end of the year with the Great Britain Lions tour. I’ve never played for GB and that is a big ambition of mine. When I was growing up watching internationals it was Great Britain playing and that’s what I set my sights on doing.

It would be an honour to play for GB, it is a massive thing for any player and I want to be part of it.

The best way to do that and the most important thing is to keep focusing on getting better and playing well for Leeds.

I know I am going to get better and I need to get better. It’s all about getting a run of games and being consistent and the time will come when I am playing at my best.

I can’t guarantee that right away, but I am doing my damndest to get there.

It has been tough with my knee injury, but I have been able to get over that and, in my mind, that’s gone now. I just have to concentrate on playing well.

The knee reconstruction is fine. I missed a couple of games because I got a bang on it at St Helens and I probably should have rested it then.

Going into the Wakefield game it wasn’t right and in hindsight I shouldn’t have played.

I wanted to play and I thought I could handle it, but it was a poor performance from me in that game.

I realised then I needed to get it sorted. I didn’t want to waste nine months and then do it again.

Playing against Wakefield was a silly thing for me to do, but it’s a learning thing.

The first time I did my knee I had a full pre-season and I was more prepared when I came back.

This year I only had a month of full, hard pre-season training and it has taken me a bit of time to find my feet again.

If I am able to play well I am able to help the boys in my leadership role because I am setting an example. That is something I am focusing on, I try to lead by example, by my actions.

I am writing this before the game against Castleford, but obviously we haven’t had the start to the season we wanted and it is tough times at the moment.

It is all down to us to get things right.

It is about collectively getting together and working hard for each other and the result will come, then we need to push on from that.

It is tough because the expectation here is really hugh, because of what we’ve done in the past.

That is my expectation as well; I hate losing.

It is hard at the minute, but we’ve just got to stick together. That is the most important thing, doing that and working as hard as we can in training.

Performances will come, but it has to be collective, it can’t just be one person doing it.