Adam Watene (7 October 1977 – 13 October 2008), known as Adam Cook early in his career, also known by the

nickname A nickname, in some circumstances also known as a sobriquet, or informally a "moniker", is an informal substitute for the proper name of a person, place, or thing, used to express affection, playfulness, contempt, or a particular character trait ...

s of "

Morlock Morlocks are one of the two fictional species of post-humans created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel ''The Time Machine'' (the other being the Eloi). The origin of the names is not established (with regard to Wells' inspiration or inspiration ...

", "Monster", and "The Gentle Giant", was a

Cook Islands The Cook Islands is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of 15 islands whose total land area is approximately . The Cook Islands' Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) covers of ocean. Avarua is its ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who played in the 2000s. He played at club level in Australia for the

Wynnum Manly Seagulls The Wynnum Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, Queensland, Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum, Queensland, Wynnum. They competed in the Bri ...

Burleigh Bears The Burleigh Bears are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Gold Coast, Australia. They compete in Queensland's top rugby league competition, the Queensland Cup. Since their admission to the competition in 1997, the ...

, and in England for the

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

, the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, and compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. The club have won the League Championship six times, the Challenge Cup f ...

and the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

as a .

Background

Watene was born in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He was of Maori, and Cook Islander descent. He grew up with fellow rugby league footballer, Adam Wright. Adam was the younger brother of

footballer, Frank Watene.

Career

As Adam Cook he won caps for

in the

2000 Rugby League World Cup The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth Rugby League World Cup, World Cup for men’s national rugby league teams, held between 28 October and 25 November and hosted between the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland and France. ...

. Watene played for

and

in the

Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...

in Australia before moving to the UK in 2005 to join the

National League One National One, up until 2023 known as National League 1 and previously known before September 2009 as National Division Two), is the third of three national leagues in the domestic rugby union competition of England. It was known as Courage Lea ...

. In his last season with the Burleigh Bears he won the

2004 Queensland Cup The 2004 Queensland Cup season was the 9th season of Queensland's top-level statewide rugby league competition run by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition featured 12 teams playing a 26-week long season (including finals) from March to S ...

. His move to Castleford was in doubt because of visa issues which led to him being chased by the

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: * Gateshead Thunder (1999), a rugby league team formed in 1999 and then merged with Hull Sharks * Gateshead Thunder (2000), a rugby league team formed in 2000, which became Newcastle Thunder in 2015 {{Disambigu ...

but eventually he joined Castleford. In 2005 Watene helped the Castleford Tigers gain promotion to

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

and played alongside his brother Frank Watene. He was signed by Brian Noble in 2006 for the

but only spent one year at the club before leaving for the

. In 2007 Watene had an outstanding season, despite missing part of the year due to injury and the death of his father.

Death

On 13 October 2008 Wakefield announced that he died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 31 after collapsing during a weight training session in the gym. Jason Demetriou wore Watene's number 8 jersey in the season after Watene's death to honour his memory.

Personal life

Watene had a wife, Moana Watene, and two children. At the time of his death he held the ceremonial position of the consort of

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

's deputy mayor, Heather Hudson.

Legacy

Two of Watene's former clubs in each hemisphere compete for specially commissioned trophies named in his honor. Since 2009 Castleford Tigers and Wakefield Trinity have chosen one of their fixtures to contest the Adam Watene trophy. And in the Southern Hemisphere Burleigh Bears and Wynnum Manly Seagulls play annually for the Adam Watene trophy.

References

External links

Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org (as Adam Watene)Profile at thecastlefordtigers.co.ukSuper League profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watene, Adam 1977 births 2008 deaths 21st-century New Zealand sportsmen Bradford Bulls players Burleigh Bears players Castleford Tigers players Cook Island expatriate rugby league players Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in England Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in Australia Cook Island rugby league players Cook Islands national rugby league team players New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in Australia New Zealand expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand Māori rugby league players Place of birth missing Rugby league props Sport deaths in England Wakefield Trinity players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players