One of his greatest achievements at Hamilton Boys' High School was contributing to a 200 + run partnership with Daniel Boughtwood, it remains a 1st XI record.

[9] After showing strong form for the Knights in domestic cricket, Watling replaced Peter Fulton in New Zealand's squad for the third Test against Pakistan in December 2009.

[11] When Zimbabwe toured New Zealand in January 2012, incumbent wicket-keeper Reece Young was dropped because he did not score enough runs in the previous Test against Australia.

[14] On his return to the domestic circuit with Northern Districts, Watling assumed the role of wicket-keeper to gain more experience.

[15] A hip injury prevent Watling from participating in the first Test against South Africa in March, and he was replaced by Kruger van Wyk.

His 352 run partnership with New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum was at the time the highest sixth wicket stand in test cricket history.

[18] This record was surpassed on 5–6 January 2015 by Watling and Kane Williamson with an unbroken 365 run partnership before a declaration against Sri Lanka at Wellington's Basin Reserve.

[19] In 2015, he became stand-in captain for Black Caps for the tour against England while many players are still fulfilling his duties in the Indian Premier League.

8 batsman only, with Luke Ronchi making his test debut behind the wickets, he became the first New Zealand player to ever score a century at Headingley.

[23] In June 2021, he officially retired from all forms of cricket after New Zealand won the inaugural edition of the ICC World Test Championship.

While Watling mostly bats at lower-middle order in international cricket, he opens for Northern Districts in Twenty20 as a pure batsman.

According to Watling, he consciously modeled his batting on that of South African international Jonty Rhodes: "He wasn't the biggest hitter, more an accumulator.