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

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

s of "

Morlock Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,''The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televisio ...

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

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

international

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

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, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...

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, that compete in the Super League, the top-level professional rugby league club competition in the Northern Hemisphere. The club have competed i ...

( Heritage № 823), the

Bradford Bulls The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predom ...

and the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

as a .

Background

Watene was born in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. 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

Cook Islands ) , image_map = Cook Islands on the globe (small islands magnified) (Polynesia centered).svg , capital = Avarua , coordinates = , largest_city = Avarua , official_languages = , lan ...

in the 2000 Rugby League World Cup. 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 football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League (QRL) and is contested by four ...

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

in National League One. 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 ...

. 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) Gateshead Thunder was a professional rugby league club founded in 1999 in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, which competed in the 1999 Super League but then merged with Hull Sharks af ...

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

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...

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

( Heritage № 1237). 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 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population, ...

'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 Bradford Bulls players Burleigh Bears players Castleford Tigers players Cook Island expatriate rugby league players Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in England Cook Island rugby league players Cook Islands national rugby league team players Expatriate rugby league players in England New Zealand Māori rugby league players Place of birth missing Rugby league props Wakefield Trinity players Wynnum Manly Seagulls players Sport deaths in England New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand expatriate rugby league players New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in England New Zealand expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate rugby league players in Australia Cook Island expatriate sportspeople in Australia