# Connor Watson

Connor Watson (born 31 May 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a lock, hooker and five-eighth for the Sydney Roosters in the National Rugby League (NRL).
He previously played for the Newcastle Knights in the NRL, and played for the Country Origin side.

## Early life

Watson was born in Dubbo, New South Wales, Australia and is of Indigenous Australian descent. At the age of five, he moved to Avoca Beach.
He played his junior rugby league for the Terrigal Sharks and Kincumber Colts, before gaining an Australian Indigenous Education Foundation (AIEF) scholarship at Knox Grammar School and playing rugby union. In an interview on the Marlee & Me podcast, Connor described being an AIEF Scholarship Student as "so good...[AIEF] do 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 Sydney Roosters.

## Playing career
### Early career

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

### 2016

In round 7 of the 2016 NRL season, Watson made his NRL debut for the Sydney Roosters against the Penrith Panthers. In round 13 against the Wests Tigers, 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 in February, Watson was named player of the tournament after the Roosters won the final. On 7 May, Watson played for Country Origin against City Origin off the interchange bench in the 20–10 loss in Mudgee. On 24 July, he signed a 3-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2018, after seeking a release from the final year of his Sydney Roosters contract.

### 2018

In round 1 of the 2018 season, Watson made his debut for Newcastle in their 19-18 golden point extra-time win over the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. In round 2 against the Canberra Raiders, Watson scored his first try for the Newcastle club in their 30–28 win at Canberra Stadium.

### 2020

After suffering a number of ankle problems during Newcastle's 2020 NRL season, Watson suffered a ruptured achilles playing against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 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 Sydney Roosters in 2022.

### 2022

Watson played a total of 21 games for the Sydney Roosters in the 2022 NRL season including the club’s elimination final loss to South Sydney.

### 2023

Watson was ruled out for the 2023 NRL season 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. 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 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, Watson scored two tries for the Sydney Roosters in their upset 38-32 victory over Penrith.

## Statistics

| Year | Team | Games | Tries | Pts |
| 2016 | Sydney Roosters | 16 | 5 | 20 |
| 2017 | Sydney Roosters | 22 | 4 | 16 |
| 2018 | Newcastle Knights | 15 | 7 | 28 |
| 2019 | Newcastle Knights | 21 | 4 | 16 |
| 2020 | Newcastle Knights | 5 | 1 | 4 |
| 2021 | Newcastle Knights | 25 | 2 | 8 |
| 2022 | Sydney Roosters | 21 | 3 | 12 |
| 2024 | Sydney Roosters | 21 | 2 | 8 |
| 2025 | Sydney Roosters | | | |
| | Totals | 146 | 28 | 112 |