Salford Red Devils star pays 'best I've played with' tribute to Leeds Rhinos signing Kallum Watkins

Watkins rejoined Leeds, his first professional club, from Salford Red Devils last week and could be back in blue and amber on Friday when Rhinos face Huddersfield Giants at AMT Headingley. Assessing Watkins’ contribution since he signed for Salford in 2020, Red Devils full-back Ryan Brierley told Sky Sports’ The Bench podcast: “You couldn't ask for a better leader of people.”

He insisted “I'm so glad he gets to go to a club who can challenge for trophies because he deserves nothing less, what he has done for this club over the last four or five years. Whenever anyone asks me who the best is that I've played with - it'd be him. It's something I can be really proud about, saying I played with Kallum Watkins.”

Watkins is the latest in a host of players who have left Salford because of the club’s long-running financial problems and joins two other former Red Devils - Andy Ackers and Brodie Croft - at Leeds. Brierley admitted it hurts seeing friends and colleagues move on, but stressed they have to do what’s right for them.

"Even going back to Brodie Croft and Andy Ackers, seeing your best friends being ripped apart and the mental health deteriorate right in front of your eyes is awful,” he reflected. “Especially someone like Kallum Watkins, he should have a statue outside our stadium for what he has done for us. We [have spoken] about the memories we had and why he had to leave. He has not been in a good place and I fully backed and supported his stance from day one.”