Karl Lawton (born 29 November 1995) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker and second-row forward for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL.

[12] Playing 11 games for the club in 2017, Lawton geared up for one of his better years of Rugby League, scoring his first career try in the Gold Coast Titans Round 2 loss to the Newcastle Knights at McDonald Jones Stadium Newcastle and his second a month later in his sides other loss to the Canberra Raiders at home.

On 1 March, Lawton was given an immediate release from the final year of his contract with the Titans to take up a two-year deal with the New Zealand Warriors, exactly one week before the 2018 Telstra Premiership season commenced.

Picked for every game from then, on 26 June it was announced that he had signed a two-year contract extension with the Warriors, taking him up to the end of the 2021 season.

[17] Lawton played 16 games for Manly in the 2021 NRL season including the club's preliminary final loss against South Sydney.

[20] Lawton was limited to only ten games for Manly in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 12th on the table and missed the finals.

[22] On 18 April, it was announced that Lawton had signed a two-year deal to join North Queensland ahead of the 2025 NRL season.