He played at club level in Australia for the Wynnum Manly Seagulls, Burleigh Bears, and in England for the Castleford Tigers, the Bradford Bulls and the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats as a prop.

[4][5] Watene played for Wynnum Manly Seagulls and Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup in Australia before moving to the UK in 2005 to join the Castleford Tigers in National League One.

[7] He was signed by Brian Noble in 2006 for the Bradford Bulls[8] but only spent one year at the club before leaving for the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats.

[10] On 13 October 2008 Wakefield announced that he died of a suspected heart attack at the age of 31 after collapsing during a weight training session in the gym.

[15][16] And in the Southern Hemisphere Burleigh Bears and Wynnum Manly Seagulls play annually for the Adam Watene trophy.