Connor Watson (born 31 May 1996) is an Australian professional

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 plays as a for the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL), the Indigenous All Stars in the All Stars and as a utility for

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

in the

State of Origin series The State of Origin series is an annual best-of-three rugby league series between two States and territories of Australia, Australian state representative sides, the New South Wales rugby league team, New South Wales Blues and the Queensland ru ...

. He previously played for the

and the

Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...

in the NRL. He represented NSW Country Origin in 2017. A utility player, Watson began his NRL career off the bench before starting at , then as a and then as a in 2021.

Early life

Watson was born in

Dubbo Dubbo (; ) is a city in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana Region of New South Wales, Australia. It is the largest population centre in the Orana region, with a population of 43,516 at June 2021. The city is located at the intersection of the ...

, Australia and is of

Indigenous Australian Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

descent. At the age of five, he moved to

Avoca Beach Avoca Beach () is a coastal suburb of the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia, about north of Sydney. Avoca Beach is primarily a residential suburb, Avoca Beach is also a popular tourist destination. Avoca Beach is known for its ...

. He played his junior rugby league for the Terrigal Sharks and Kincumber Colts, before gaining an

Australian Indigenous Education Foundation The Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) is a non-profit organisation. AIEF provides scholarship funding for Indigenous students to complete Year 12 or tertiary school, with career support to help make a successful transition to e ...

(AIEF) scholarship at

Knox Grammar School Knox Grammar School is an independent Uniting Church day and boarding school for boys, located in Wahroonga, New South Wales, an Upper North Shore suburb of Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1924 by the Presbyterian Church of Australia as an all- ...

and playing

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

. In an interview on the Marlee & Me podcast, Connor described being an AIEF Scholarship Student as "so good... IEFdo such a terrific job". While playing rugby union, he spent part of his time playing rugby league with the South Eastern Seagulls. He was then signed by the

Playing career

Early career

In 2015 and 2016, Watson played for the Sydney Roosters' NYC team. In July 2015, he re-signed with the

on a two-year contract.

2016

In round 7 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, Watson made his

NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

debut for the

against the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

. In round 13 against the

Wests Tigers The Wests Tigers is an Australian professional rugby league football team, based in the Inner West of Sydney and South Western Sydney. The Tigers have competed in the National Rugby League (NRL) since being formed at the end of the 1999 N ...

, he scored his first NRL try. In December, he extended his Roosters contract from the end of 2017 until the end of 2018.

2017

At the

2017 NRL Auckland Nines The 2017 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the fourth NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 4–5 February 2017 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. Just like previous tournaments, it ...

in February, Watson was named player of the tournament after the Roosters won the final. On 7 May, Watson played for

Country Origin The Country New South Wales rugby league team is a representative rugby league football team. Between 1987 and 2017 there were two tiers: the Origin team that consisted of professional players who originated from clubs of the Country Rugby Leagu ...

against

City Origin The Sydney Rugby League team, known as the City Rugby League team, or Sydney Firsts, or Sydney Capitals, is a representative rugby league team. From 2021, the men's team is to consist of players selected from the New South Wales Rugby League Ro ...

off the interchange bench in the 20–10 loss in

Mudgee Mudgee () is a town in the Central West (New South Wales), Central West of New South Wales, Australia. It is in the broad fertile Cudgegong River valley north-west of Sydney and is the largest town in the Mid-Western Regional Council Local gov ...

. On 24 July, he signed a 3-year contract with the

starting in 2018, after seeking a release from the final year of his

contract.

2018

In round 1 of the 2018 season, Watson made his debut for

Newcastle Newcastle usually refers to: *Newcastle upon Tyne, a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle-under-Lyme, a town in Staffordshire, England, United Kingdom *Newcastle, New South Wales, a metropolitan area ...

in their 19-18

golden point The golden point, a sudden death overtime system, is used to resolve drawn matches in a number of sports. The term is borrowed from soccer's now-defunct golden goal. Rugby league Australia The golden point is used to determine a winner (where a ...

extra-time win over the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

. In round 2 against the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

, Watson scored his first try for the Newcastle club in their 30–28 win at

Canberra Stadium Canberra Stadium, commercially known as GIO Stadium Canberra, is a facility primarily used for rugby league and rugby union games, located adjacent to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra, the capital of Australia. It is the largest sp ...

2020

After suffering a number of

ankle problems Ankle problems occur frequently, having symptoms of pain or discomfort in the ankles. Mild ankle pain can often be cured by home treatments, although these may be slow to take effect. Specialized physicians are needed if the condition is severe, ...

during Newcastle's

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

, Watson suffered a ruptured achilles playing against the

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

in the Round 11, 18–12 loss, ending his season.

2021

After playing over 60 games for the Newcastle club, Watson chose to knock back a contract extension and instead signed a two-year contract to return to the

in 2022.

2022

Watson played a total of 21 games for the Sydney Roosters in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

including the club’s elimination final loss to South Sydney.

2023

Watson was ruled out for the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

due to suffering a patella tendon injury during Roosters training.

2024

On 16 June, Watson was selected by New South Wales for game two of the

2024 State of Origin series The 2024 State of Origin series was the 43rd annual best-of-three series between the Queensland and New South Wales rugby league teams. Before this series, Queensland had won 24 times, NSW 16 times, with two series drawn. Game I Game I was hel ...

. Watson played in both games two and three of the series as New South Wales won the shield 2-1. Watson played 21 matches for the Sydney Roosters in the

2024 NRL season The 2024 NRL season was the 117th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 27th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight ...

as they finished third on the table. Watson played in all three finals matches for the club including their preliminary final loss against Melbourne.

2025

In round 2 of the

2025 NRL season The 2025 NRL season is the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League (NRL). The regular season will be followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competiti ...

, Watson scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in their upset 38-32 victory over Penrith. In May, Watson was selected by New South Wales ahead of the 2025 State of Origin series. He played in all three games as New South Wales lost the series 2-1.

Statistics

References

External links

Newcastle Knights profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Watson, Connor 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Indigenous Australian rugby league players 21st-century Indigenous Australian people Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players Newcastle Knights players Sydney Roosters players Junior Kangaroos players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league locks People educated at Knox Grammar School Rugby league players from Dubbo Rugby league players from Gosford, New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportsmen Rugby league utility players