Daryl Clark (born 10 February 1993) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for St Helens in the Super League and England at international level.

Daryl Clark
Personal information
Full nameDaryl Clark
Born (1993-02-10) 10 February 1993 (age 31)[1]
Castleford, West Yorkshire, England
Height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[1]
Weight14 st 5 lb (91 kg)[1]
Playing information
PositionHooker
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2011–14 Castleford Tigers 94 37 0 0 148
2015–23 Warrington Wolves 238 51 0 0 204
2024– St Helens 18 7 0 0 28
Total 350 95 0 0 380
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012 England Knights 1 0 0 0 0
2014– England 15 1 0 0 4
2019 Great Britain 2 1 0 0 4
2022 Combined Nations All Stars 1 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3][4]
As of 1 October 2023

He has previously played for the Castleford Tigers and Warrington Wolves.

Background

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Clark was born in Castleford, Yorkshire, England. He is of Scottish descent.

He attended Airedale High School and played amateur rugby for Fryston Warriors.[5][6]

Playing career

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Castleford Tigers

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Clark started his professional career with hometown club Castleford, making his début in February 2011.[3] He made 21 appearances in his first season at the club, and was rewarded with a five-year contract.[7]

Clark played in the 2014 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium.[8]

Warrington Wolves

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In August 2014, it was confirmed that Clark had been signed by Warrington for a fee of £185,000.[9] In his final season with the club, he won the 2014 Steve Prescott Man of Steel award.

Clark played in the 2016 Challenge Cup Final defeat against Hull F.C. at Wembley Stadium.[10][11]

Clark played in the 2016 Super League Grand Final defeat against Wigan at Old Trafford.[12]

Clark played in the 2018 Challenge Cup Final defeat against the Catalans Dragons at Wembley Stadium.[13]

Clark played in the 2018 Super League Grand Final defeat against Wigan at Old Trafford.[14]

Clark played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final victory over St. Helens at Wembley Stadium.[15] He scored Warrington's third and final try and was voted Lance Todd Trophy becoming only the third hooker to win the trophy On 26 July 2023, Clark signed a three-year deal to join St Helens starting in 2024.[16] Clark played 25 games for Warrington in the 2023 Super League season as Warrington finished sixth on the table and qualified for the playoffs. Clark played in the clubs elimination playoff loss against his future club St Helens.[17]

St Helens

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In round 1 of the 2024 Super League season, Clark made his club debut for St Helens and scored a try as they defeated the newly promoted London Broncos 40-4.[18] In round 14, Clark scored a hat-trick in the clubs 52-6 victory over London at the Twickenham Stoop.[19] Clark played 22 matches for St Helens in the 2024 Super League season which saw the club finish sixth on the table. Clark played in St Helens golden point extra-time playoff loss against Warrington.[20]

International career

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In 2011, Clark was named in the Scotland squad, but did not make an appearance. After playing one match for England Knights in 2012, Clark confirmed he would no longer be putting himself forward to play for Scotland, as he would prefer to play for England.[21]

He then made his début for England in the 2014 Four Nations tournament in Australia.[citation needed]

In October 2016, Clark was selected in England's 2016 Four Nations squad. Before the tournament, England played a test match against France in which saw Clark score his first ever test try in England's 40–6 win.[citation needed]

He was selected in England 9s squad for the 2019 Rugby League World Cup 9s.[22]

He was selected in squad for the 2019 Great Britain Lions tour of the Southern Hemisphere.[23]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Daryl Clark". warringtonwolves.com. Warrington Wolves. 2014. Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 29 July 2015.
  2. ^ "Player Summary: Daryl Clark". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. ^ "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. ^ Smith, Peter (22 August 2014). "Castleford Tigers: Clark and Burrow set to go head to head". Yorkshire Evening Post. Johnston Press. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  6. ^ Hadfield, Dave (20 August 2014). "Daryl Clark inspired by Castleford's Challenge Cup history even as tradition points to a future elsewhere". The Independent. Retrieved 26 December 2014.
  7. ^ "Castleford Tigers hooker Daryl Clark signs long-term deal". BBC Sport. 20 October 2011. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  8. ^ "Leeds lift Challenge Cup after Ryan Hall's double stuns Castleford". Guardian. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  9. ^ Bower, Aaron (28 August 2014). "Clark cost £185,000, says Warrington Wolves owner". Total Rugby League. League Publications. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  10. ^ "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  11. ^ "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  12. ^ "Warrington 6-12 Wigan: Super League Grand Final – as it happened!". Guardian. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  13. ^ "Catalans Dragons beat Warrington in Challenge Cup final to make history". Guardian. 25 August 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  14. ^ "Super League Grand Final 2018: Wigan 12-4 Warrington – as it happened". Guardian. 13 October 2018. Retrieved 5 November 2019.
  15. ^ "St Helens 4-18 Warrington RESULT: Challenge Cup Final as it happened from Wembley". Mirror. 24 August 2019. Retrieved 1 November 2019.
  16. ^ "Daryl Clark: St Helens move confirmed with Warrington Wolves star signing long-term deal". www.loverugbyleague.com. 26 July 2023.
  17. ^ "Highs and lows from Warrington Wolves' 2023 season". www.warringtonguardian.co.uk. 3 October 2023.
  18. ^ "Super League: St Helens 40-4 London Broncos - Saints thrash promoted side". www.bbc.co.uk.
  19. ^ "Nine-try Saints hammer Broncos to return to top". www.bbc.co.uk.
  20. ^ "'Soul destroying': Warrington eliminate St Helens in golden drop goal thriller". www.theguardian.com.
  21. ^ Wilson, Zack (7 February 2013). "Daryl Clark rules himself out of Scotland World Cup place". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  22. ^ "Sam Tomkins eager to lift inaugural World 9s title with England Down Under". Mirror. 16 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  23. ^ "Zak Hardaker shock inclusion in 24-man Great Britain squad for tour of New Zealand and Papua New Guinea". Telegraph. 14 October 2019. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
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