Joe Westerman

Joe Westerman (born 15 November 1989) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a loose forward or second-row for the Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League and the England Knights and England at international level.

Joe Westerman
Personal information
Born (1989-11-15) 15 November 1989
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England
Height6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[1]
Weight17 st 7 lb (111 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionLoose forward, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2007–10 Castleford Tigers 103 43 175 0 522
2011–15 Hull F.C. 128 29 58 1 233
2016–17 Warrington Wolves 53 12 0 0 48
2018 Toronto Wolfpack 5 0 0 0 0
2018–19 Hull F.C. 32 10 0 0 40
2020–21 Wakefield Trinity 34 7 0 0 28
2022– Castleford Tigers 51 2 0 0 8
Total 406 103 233 1 879
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011 England Knights 1 0 0 0 0
2014 England 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3]
As of 6 September 2023

He previously played for the Castleford Tigers, Hull F.C. in two separate spells and the Warrington Wolves in the Super League, and the Toronto Wolfpack in the Betfred Championship. He played as a stand-off at the start of his professional .

Background

Westerman was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England.

Club career

Castleford Tigers

Westerman burst onto the scene in 2007 in the Castleford Tigers National League One campaign, having previous played junior rugby league with Castleford Lock Lane and the Featherstone Lions.[4] 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.

Westerman playing for the Castleford Tigers in 2008

In 2008 Joe had a great first season in the Super League for Castleford scoring 12 tries in 25 games.[5] He was tipped for being a future England RL international.[6]

Hull F.C.

Westerman was Hull F.C.’s marquee signing for Super League XVI, with the Black and Whites paying a club record fee to secure the services of the former Castleford Tigers man.[7]

Warrington Wolves

In October 2015, Westerman signed a 3-year contract with Warrington for a fee of £150,000.[8]

He played in the 2016 Challenge Cup Final defeat by Hull F.C. at Wembley Stadium.[9][10]

He played in the 2016 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.[11]

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.[12] Westerman joined fellow Wolves teammate Ashton Sims for the 2018 season, who signed with the Wolfpack less than a month prior.[13]

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.[14]

Return to Hull F.C.

Westerman returned to Hull FC in April 2018 despite interest from other clubs. He cited coach Lee Radford and his love for Hull FC as reasons for his choice.[15]

In the local derby in June 2019 against Hull Kingston Rovers, he dislocated his knee in a tackle only to slap it back in place and continue playing.[16]

Wakefield Trinity

Westerman signed a two-year deal with Wakefield Trinity ahead of the 2020 Super League season.[17]

Return to Castleford Tigers

In June 2021, it was announced that Westerman would return to his boyhood club, the Castleford Tigers, on a two-year deal from the 2022 season.[18] He would be working alongside former coach Lee Radford 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."[18]

Westerman made his second Castleford debut on 11 February 2022 against the Salford Red Devils.[19] He was voted the Fans' Man of the Match for the first two rounds of the season against Salford and Warrington.[20][21] Following another two Man of the Match performances against Wigan and Leeds in March, head coach Radford called Westerman "the best 13 in the competition".[22] He played 22 games for Castleford in the Super League XXVIII season as the club finished 11th on the table narrowly avoiding relegation.[23]

International career

Westerman played for and captained the England Knights in their 38-18 victory against France at the Leigh Sports Village on 15 October 2011.[24]

Westerman made his senior international debut on 25 October 2014, starting in England's 32-26 victory against Samoa at the Suncorp Stadium in the 2014 Four Nations.[25][26]

Westerman made a return to the England team on 25 June 2021, playing against the Combined Nations All Stars at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.[27]

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."[28][29][30]

References
  1. "Hull 1st Team Joe Westerman". Hull FC. Hull FC. 2015. Retrieved 17 July 2015.
  2. "Player Summary: Joe Westerman". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  3. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "Hull set to unleash secret weapon". Yorkshire Post. 27 May 2006 – via NewsBank.
  5. "Statistics at thecastlefordtigers.co.uk". thecastlefordtigers. 31 December 2013. Archived from the original on 18 May 2012. Retrieved 1 January 2014.
  6. "Scouting report: Joe Westerman, Castleford". The Guardian. 10 June 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  7. "Joe Westerman joins Hull from Castleford for 'club record' fee". The Guardian. 28 October 2010. Retrieved 6 September 2023.
  8. "Hull FC sell Joe Westerman to Warrington Wolves for £150,000". Hull Daily Mail. 20 October 2015. Archived from the original on 21 October 2015. Retrieved 18 February 2017.
  9. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  10. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  11. "Warrington 6-12 Wigan: Super League Grand Final – as it happened!". Guardian. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  12. "Joe Westerman Joins the Toronto Wolfpack". Toronto Wolfpack. 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  13. "Toronto Wolfpack sign Fiji international prop Ashton Sims for next season". Toronto Star. 13 September 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
  14. "Joe Westerman and Quentin Laulu-Togaga'e leave Toronto Wolfpack". Sky Sports. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  15. "Joe Westerman: Hull FC re-sign loose forward from Toronto Wolfpack". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  16. "Hull FC's Joe Westerman dislocates knee and knocks it BACK IN before playing on in Hull derby". Daily Mirror newspaper. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
  17. "Westerman signs two-year deal". 24 September 2019. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  18. "Joe Westerman: Castleford Tigers to re-sign Wakefield Trinity back-rower from 2022". BBC Sport. 22 June 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  19. "Super League: Castleford Tigers 16-26 Salford Red Devils". BBC Sport. 11 February 2022. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  20. Castleford Tigers [@CTRLFC] (14 February 2022). "After tallying up your votes, Fords faithful you chose @joewesty13787 as the @HuntersHomes Fans Man of the Match following the game against Salford" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. Castleford Tigers [@CTRLFC] (20 February 2022). "After counting up our supporters' votes, you chose @joewesty13787 as the @HuntersHomes Fans Man of the Match from our match against Warrington. Back-to-back weeks for Westy" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  22. Pattison, Cam (26 March 2022). ""He's the best 13 in the comp" – Lee Radford praises Joe Westerman and backs another Tiger to make World Cup "statement"". Serious About Rugby League. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  23. "Castleford Tigers ace Alex Mellor delivers brutally honest assessment of 'awful' season; 'We've massively underperformed'". www.loverugbyleague.com.
  24. "Westerman to lead the Knights". Sky Sports. 14 October 2011. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  25. Hafez, Shamoon (25 October 2014). "Four Nations: England defeat Samoa 32-26 in thrilling opener". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
  26. "Four Nations: England international Joe Westerman honoured by Sam Burgess presentation". Sky Sports. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 24 May 2020.
  27. "England 24-26 All Stars: Shaun Wane makes losing start with England". Sky Sports. 26 June 2021. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  28. "Joe Westerman: Castleford Tigers fine back rower over sex act video". BBC. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  29. "Joe Westerman hit with 'substantial fine' over sex act video". Independent. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  30. Shaw, Matthew (13 February 2023). "Castleford Tigers issue statement after lewd video of Joe Westerman goes viral". Examiner Live. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
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