'EVERY Minute Matters' was the slogan produced by the Rugby Football League to mark the new competition format and it has particular resonance for Kallum Watkins as he prepares to make his 200th appearance for Leeds.

The Super League clash with Wigan at Headingley on Friday will be the England centre's 44th in a row for the Rhinos and he has played every minute of those games – a total of 3,420, which equates to 57 hours in total.

The durable Watkins, 26, also played every minute of the Four Nations Series for his country and his only rest came in October's international against France in Avignon.

He said: "I only played an hour in that. Obviously not being in the forwards, you're never really going to get taken off unless you're injured.

"My position is tough and it's hard work at times but it makes you think of the forwards going through the tough stuff throughout those minutes. They need that rest.

"It's not something I think about too much. I just go out there and do a job and aim to be consistent."

Manchester-born Watkins, who made his debut for Leeds in a Challenge Cup tie against Celtic Crusaders in April 2008, has enjoyed a relatively clean bill of health since undergoing a knee reconstruction in 2010.

He has not missed a game since their Super 8s clash with Catalans Dragons towards the end of the 2015 season and he is delighted to get the chance to reach his milestone at Headingley.

He said: "It's a huge thing for me, especially here as well and playing Wigan. It's an honour to play that many games for a fantastic club. I'm immensely proud of that.

"It will be a big challenge for us on Friday – it always is against Wigan. The main focus is getting a good result."

Leeds have enjoyed three good results since their fortunes hit rock bottom with a Super League record 66-10 defeat at Castleford a month ago, a humiliation that is now firmly behind them.

Watkins said: "We hope so. We just needed to react to it, talk to each other and be honest with each other."

Leeds coach Brian McDermott has since talked up his team's Grand Final prospects and Watkins, who was the club's player of the year during their treble-winning season in 2015, admits the team have their eyes on more silverware.

He said: "It's something that we've always targeted. We want to be successful. This is what the club is all about. We want to win trophies, we want to be right up there near the top.

"But we can't get ahead of ourselves. It's a hard league and the response we've had has been pretty good but we can't be content with that. We need to keep that going now.

"Confidence is pretty good and the boys are going well but we need to be consistent. Those things will come in the end."