David Watkins was something of an enigma. One of the finest of Welsh outside halves in the Union code he did not excell in the position in Rugby League, but when he switched to centre he became one of the most successful players of the post-war era.

Born in Blaina, Gwent in 1942, the son of a coalminer, David didn't play rugby until he was 15 years old.Recognition quickly followed with six Welsh Youth caps and a debut at outside half for Newport in 1961.Scoring a try in his first game, he made the position his own with 288 points in 202 appearences. He played 21 times for Wales , touring with the British Lions in 1966.

In 1967 he signed for Salford for £16,000, a very large sum at the time,playing 120 games as a standoff in the next three seasons but not showing the mastery of the position that many had expected.In 1970 the new Salford coach, Cliff Evans, moved him to centre where he was an immediate success scoring three tries in his first game. The extra time and space at centre seemed to suit him and he quickly became one of the best exponents of the position the game has seen.

In the 1970-71 season , with no previous experience he was asked to take the goalkicking role, rapidly acheiving unparelleled success. In his first season he kicked 155 goals, shattering the Salford record of fellow Welshman Gus Risman. In 1971-72 he followed this with 192 goals and a World record 221 goals in 1972-73.

Although he was Salford's goalkicker for a relatively short time he eclipsed even Risman's records, with 1241 goals in all, equalling Risman's 13 goals in a game and kicking goals in a record 92 consecutive matches.He scored more than 400 points in a season three times,a feat only ever acheived once by any other Welsh player.

At international level, he played in six Tests for Great Britain and 16 times for Wales, 14 as captain. He toured Australia twice, in1974 appearing in the first Test and again, as player-coach, in 1976.

In 1974 he retired briefly but returned to Salford in 1975, this time as a fullback.The additional space that this position gave to his game allowed him to launch the talented Salford back division in a period which saw the club find again the success which Risman had orchestrated more than 30 years earlier.In all first class matches he made 472 appearences scoring 154 tries and 1,342 goals for a total of 3,117 points.

He finished at Salford in 1979, playing one season with neighbours Swinton before returning to South Wales as a driving force behind the ill-fated Cardiff Blue Dragons from 1981-1984. Currently he is Chairman of Newport RUFC.