Joe Westerman (born 15 November 1989) is an English

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 plays as a or 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 ...

in the

Betfred 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 the

England Knights England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...

and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at international level. He previously played for the

( Heritage № 869),

Hull F.C. Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league football club established in 1865 and based in West Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. The club plays in the Super League competition and were ...

in two separate spells and the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington Z ...

in the

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 the

Toronto Wolfpack The Toronto Wolfpack are a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario, who compete in the North American Rugby League. The club originally competed in the British rugby league system but withdrew in the 2020 Super Leagu ...

in the

Betfred Championship The Championship, known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a professional rugby league competition. It is the second-tier competition organised by the Rugby Football League, the governing body for the sport in England, ...

. He played as a at the start of his professional .

Background

Westerman was born in

Pontefract Pontefract is a historic market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England, east of Wakefield and south of Castleford. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is one of the towns in the City of Wake ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

Club career

Castleford Tigers

Westerman burst onto the scene in 2007 in the

National League One campaign after signing from junior club the

Featherstone Lions Featherstone Lions are an amateur rugby league club from Featherstone, West Yorkshire who play in the National Conference League and the Yorkshire Men's League The juniors (U7 - U18) play in the Yorkshire Junior & Youth League. The club also ha ...

. Joe played in most of the Castleford Tiger's games and scored 2 tries in the National League One Grand Final at Headingley. Joe was named National League One young player of the year. Joe Westerman

In 2008 Joe had a great first season in the

for Castleford scoring 12 tries in 25 games. He was tipped for being a future England RL international.

Hull F.C.

Westerman was

’s marquee signing for Super League XVI, with the Black and Whites paying one of their highest ever transfer fees to secure the services of the former Castleford Tigers man.

Warrington Wolves

In October 2015, Westerman signed a 3-year contract with

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

for a fee of £150,000. He played in the 2016 Challenge Cup Final defeat by

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

. He played in the

2016 Super League Grand Final The 2016 Super League Grand Final was the 19th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XXI season. It was held on Saturday 8 October 2016, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. Brit ...

defeat by the

Wigan Warriors The Wigan Warriors are a professional rugby league club in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the Super League. Formed in 1872 as Wigan Football Club, Wigan was a founding member of the Rugby Football League, Northern Rugby ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

Toronto Wolfpack

Upon promotion from League 1 in 2017, Westerman signed with Rugby League's first trans-Atlantic team, the Toronto Wolfpack, on 1 October 2017. Westerman joined fellow Wolves teammate

Ashton Sims Ashton Sims (born 26 February 1985) is a Fijian former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Fiji, and at club level for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, the Brisbane Broncos and th ...

for the 2018 season, who signed with the Wolfpack less than a month prior. In April 2018 Westerman was released by Toronto Wolfpack after making only 4 appearances for the club. The decision to allow Westerman to leave for free raised eyebrows given he was less than 6 months into a 3 year contract and the Wolfpack had paid a transfer fee of £130,000 to secure his services.

Return to Hull F.C.

Westerman returned to Hull FC in April 2018 despite interest from other clubs. He cited coach

Lee Radford Lee Radford (born 26 March 1979) is an English professional rugby league coach for the Castleford Tigers. He previously worked in rugby league as the head coach of Hull F.C., in the Super League, from 2013–2020. He is also a former profession ...

and his love for Hull FC as reasons for his choice. In the local derby in June 2019 against

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

, he dislocated his knee in a tackle only to slap it back in place and continue playing.

Wakefield Trinity

Westerman signed a two-year deal with

Wakefield Trinity 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 ...

ahead of the 2020 Super League season.

Return to Castleford Tigers

In June 2021, it was announced that Westerman would return to his boyhood club, the

, on a two-year deal from the 2022 season. He would be working alongside former coach

once again, as well as playing for the team he supported as a child. Commenting on the news, he said, "The standard is really high now and I just want to get there and play well for my hometown club next year." Westerman made his second Castleford debut on 11 February 2022 against the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

. He was voted the Fans' Man of the Match for the first 2 rounds of the season against

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

and

. Following another 2 Man of the Match performances against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

and

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...

in March, head coach Radford called Westerman "the best 13 in the competition".

International career

Westerman played for and captained the

in their 38-18 victory against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at the

Leigh Sports Village Leigh Sports Village is an £83 million multi-use sports,
retail and hou ...

on 15 October 2011. Westerman made his senior international debut on 25 October 2014, starting in

's 32-26 victory against

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

at the

Suncorp Stadium Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

in the 2014 Four Nations. Westerman made a return to the England team on 25 June 2021, playing against the Combined Nations All Stars at the

Halliwell Jones Stadium The Halliwell Jones Stadium is a rugby league stadium in Warrington, England, which is the home ground of the Warrington Wolves. It has also staged Challenge Cup semi-finals, the European Nations Final, the National League Grand Finals' Day, ...

Personal life

Sex scandal

In February 2023, Castleford Tigers gave Westerman a "substantial fine" after an online video was released showing him performing a sex act in public on a woman, who was not his wife. The club also ordered Westerman to help educate young people on the effects of alcohol and "dangers of social media when in the public eye". Westerman issued a statement, saying "I'd also like to apologise to the supporters, sponsors, staff, and directors of Castleford Tigers as well as my team-mates. I'd like to extend this apology to the game of rugby league, and I have realised that I need to work on my decision-making around alcohol."

References

External links

Hull FC profileSL profileToronto Wolfpack profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Castleford Tigers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Westerman, Joe 1989 births Living people Castleford Tigers players England Knights national rugby league team players England national rugby league team players English rugby league players Hull F.C. players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league locks Rugby league players from Pontefract Rugby league second-rows Toronto Wolfpack players Wakefield Trinity players Warrington Wolves players