Hull FC prop looks set to miss out on their trip to Catalan Dragons this weekend – but not through conventional circumstances. The club have been caught up in the UK’s passport fiasco, with a huge backlog of applications currently being experienced.
The backlog of applicants has risen by 200,000 in the last three months to nearly half a million and they include Hull’s former Castleford and Hull KR prop Watts, who has mislaid his passport and so far failed in his attempts to obtain a replacement.
“We’re working furiously in trying to sort out a way to get him to Perpignan,” Hull football manager Motu Tony said.
“He’s tearing up his house but still hasn’t found it and now he’s moving on (to) his mum and dad’s to see if it’s there.
“Normally you’d turn up at the passport office to get a new one but there’s a backlog at the moment and he’s been given an appointment for a couple of weeks, which is no good to us.
“We’ve (been) exploring every avenue – he’s a bit too big for a stowaway – and we’re just waiting to hear back from the lawyers to see what they say. We don’t leave until Friday so we’ve got a couple more days.”
