Niall Evalds

Niall Evalds (born 26 August 1993) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a  or er for the Hull KR in the Super League, and the England Knights and England at international level. He will join Hull Kingston Rovers from the 2024 season.

He has previously played for the Salford Red Devils in the Super League, where he holds the club record for most Super League tries. He has spent time on loan from Salford at Oldham in the Championship 1 and at the Barrow Raiders in the Championship, and on dual registration from Salford at Halifax in the Championship.

Early life
Evalds was born in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. He is of Latvian descent through his paternal grandfather Jānis ("John"), who settled in Halifax during World War II.

Career

Salford Red Devils 
Evalds made his Super League debut on 9 February 2013 against the Catalans Dragons.

He became Salford Red Devils leading Super League try scorer when he scored his 66th try in the competition against London Broncos in 2019.

He played in the 2019 Super League Grand Final defeat by St. Helens at Old Trafford.

In May 2020, Salford Director Paul King stated that Evalds had rejected the opportunity to extend his contract with the Red Devils into 2021.

On 17 October 2020, he played for Salford in the 2020 Challenge Cup Final which Salford lost 17–16 against the Leeds Rhinos.

Castleford Tigers 
In August 2020, shortly after Super League's resumption following its COVID-19 suspension, it was announced that Evalds had signed a one-year contract with the Castleford Tigers (Heritage № 1004) for the 2021 season. He said of the move, "This was an opportunity to take up a new challenge at Cas and have to prove myself all over again." Tigers head coach Daryl Powell described Evalds as "a high-quality player with a real instinct for rugby league".

Evalds made his Castleford debut and scored his first try for the club on 28 March 2021 against the Warrington Wolves. In May 2021, he signed a two-year contract extension with the Tigers, with the option of an additional year. On 17 July 2021, Evalds appeared in his second successive Challenge Cup final as Castleford faced St Helens at Wembley Stadium. He scored a try for Castleford and was voted winner of the Lance Todd Trophy for player of the match, despite the Tigers falling to a 12-26 defeat. He became the fourth Castleford player, and tenth from a losing side, to claim the award. He finished the season having made 20 appearances and scored 7 tries.

Castleford's new head coach for the 2022 season, Lee Radford, was impressed by the ability of Evalds; he said, "I had him amongst the elite fullbacks in the competition, but he has probably surpassed that for me." A hamstring injury limited Evalds' playtime early in the year, and a ruptured bicep suffered in April ruled him out until July. On his second game back, he sustained a shoulder injury in the process of scoring a try against Warrington, which ended his season prematurely.

In March 2023, Evalds suffered another "freak injury" to his other shoulder. He said, "I want to play every game. Before the last year that's what I used to do." He made a try-saving tackle on Joe Burgess on his return against Salford in round 9. In May, he unfortunately suffered yet another injury - he underwent surgery on a pectoral tear, which brought an end to his season after just 7 appearances. The Tigers later decided against offering a contract extension, with head coach Andy Last explaining, "We're not in a position at this moment to make him an offer because he's not playing. We need to make sure we cut our cloth accordingly and spend our budget." In August 2023, Castleford announced that Evalds would depart the club at the end of the season. He said, "I want to thank everyone at Cas, the fans, staff, and my teammates. They have all supported me through the tough times these last couple of years and I leave with lots of good memories at Cas."

Hull Kingston Rovers 
On 23 August 2023, it was announced that Evalds would join Hull Kingston Rovers on a two-year deal from the 2024 season.

International career
In July 2018 he was selected in the England Knights Performance squad. Later that year he was selected for the England Knights on their tour of Papua New Guinea. He played in their 12-16 victory against Papua New Guinea at the Lae Football Stadium in Lae.

In 2019 he was selected for the England Knights in their 38-6 victory against Jamaica at Headingley Rugby Stadium.

Evalds earned his first senior England cap in their 30-10 victory over France at the Stade Gilbert Brutus on 23 October 2021.

Statistics

Club career 

(* denotes season still competing)

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profile
Salford Red Devils profile
SL profile

1993 births
Living people
Barrow Raiders players
Castleford Tigers players
England Knights national rugby league team players
England national rugby league team players
English people of Latvian descent
English rugby league players
Hull Kingston Rovers players
Lance Todd Trophy winners
Oldham R.L.F.C. players
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league players from Halifax, West Yorkshire
Rugby league wingers
Salford Red Devils players