Daniel Smith (rugby league)

Daniel Smith (born 20 March 1993) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and loose forward for the Castleford Tigers in the Betfred Super League.

Daniel Smith
Personal information
Born (1993-03-20) 20 March 1993
Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England
Height6 ft 4 in (1.92 m)
Weight16 st 12 lb (107 kg)
Playing information
PositionProp, Loose forward
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2012 Leeds Rhinos 0 0 0 0 0
2012(DR) → Oldham 4 0 0 0 0
2013 South Sydney Rabbitohs 0 0 0 0 0
2014–15 Wakefield Trinity Wildcats 39 7 0 0 28
2014(DR) → Featherstone Rovers 1 1 0 0 4
2015–19 Huddersfield Giants 50 5 0 0 20
2017(loan) → Oldham 3 1 0 0 4
2019(loan) → Featherstone Rovers 5 2 0 0 8
2019– Castleford Tigers 29 1 0 0 4
Total 131 17 0 0 68
As of 26 December 2020
Source: [1][2]

He previously played for the Leeds Rhinos, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats and the Huddersfield Giants in the Super League, and the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL. He has spent time at Oldham and Featherstone Rovers on dual registration from Leeds and Wakefield respectively, and on loan from Huddersfield to both clubs again.

Background

Smith was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. He is the brother of fellow rugby league footballer Cameron Smith.[3]

Smith played at junior level for amateur side Castleford Lock Lane. In 2009, at the age of 15, he joined the academy at the Leeds Rhinos.[4][5]

Career

Leeds Rhinos

Smith was promoted to the senior Leeds squad prior to the 2012 season, and was allocated squad number 30.[6] However, he did not make any first-team appearances for the Rhinos.

Oldham (dual registration)

In June 2012, Smith joined Championship 1 side Oldham on dual registration.[4] He made four appearances for the Roughyeds.

South Sydney Rabbitohs

Smith moved to Australia in 2013 to play for South Sydney Rabbitohs under-20 side, where he made 24 appearances.[7] At the end of his time down under, he recalled "Australia was the best experience of my life. It’s changed me massively on and off the field."[8]

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats

Smith returned to England at the end of the year, signing a two-year contract with the Wakefield Trinity Wildcats in October 2013.[8][9]

In 2014, he regularly appeared for Wakefield as a prop, and he scored 3 tries in 20 appearances.[10] In July 2014, Smith signed a new three-year deal with Wakefield.[11]

In 2015, he made a further 19 appearances and scored 4 tries, before leaving for Huddersfield in July as part of a deal that saw Anthony Mullally move the other way.[12]

Featherstone Rovers (dual registration)

In 2014, Smith played one game for Featherstone Rovers on dual registration, scoring a try in his only appearance.[10]

Huddersfield Giants

In July 2015, Smith was signed by Huddersfield Giants on a four-and-a-half year deal.[7] He scored his first try for the Giants against his previous club Wakefield just weeks after completing his move away.[13]

On 27 March 2019, Huddersfield announced that, as of 1 April, Smith would be released from the final year of his contract due to "him not featuring in [head coach] Simon [Woolford]'s plans".[14] Across his time with Huddersfield, Smith made 50 appearances and scored 5 tries.[10]

Oldham (loan)

Smith re-joined Oldham, this time playing in the Championship, on loan from Huddersfield in 2017. Across July, he made 3 appearances and scored 1 try.[10]

Featherstone Rovers (loan)

Smith re-joined Featherstone Rovers on a one-month loan deal in January 2019.[15] In his second stint at the club, he made 5 appearances and scored 2 tries.[10]

Castleford Tigers

On 2 April 2019, Castleford Tigers announced the signing of Smith on a deal until the end of the 2020 season.[16] He was assigned squad number 34. Castleford Director of Rugby Jon Wells said "Daniel has been a target of ours for some time now and we are fortunate that the opportunity has arisen to bring him to the club earlier than we anticipated."[16] Smith himself said of the signing: "I'm from here and I've always wanted to play for this club. I hope this is my last move."[17]

Smith returned to the John Smith's Stadium on his first Tigers appearance, making his Castleford début against his previous club Huddersfield on 11 April 2019.[18] He went on to appear 19 times for Castleford in 2019, scoring 1 try.[10]

Castleford Director of Rugby Jon Wells describes him as a "hard-running, ball-playing, offloading" forward.[16]

References
  1. Love Rugby League
  2. Rugby League Project
  3. "Leeds Rhinos: Memorable night if not result admits débutant Smith". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
  4. "Oldham snap up Rhinos prospect". Chronicle Online. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  5. Daly, Phil (2009-02-04). "Rhinos sign latest young stars". Leeds Rhinos. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  6. Correspondent (2011-11-10). "Leeds announce 2012 squad list". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  7. "Huddersfield Giants prop Daniel Smith setting sights on first-team shirt for Super League campaign". Huddersfield Examiner. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  8. Gordon, James (2013-10-11). "Wakefield sign prop Smith". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  9. Rigg, Nick (4 October 2013). "Wakefield Wildcats: South Sydney Rabbitohs youngster Dan Smith to become Wildcats' first 2014 recruit". Wakefield Express. Johnston Press. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  10. "Daniel Smith Player Stats". loverugbyleague.com. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
  11. Correspondent (2014-07-21). "Daniel Smith extends Wakefield stay". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  12. "Daniel Smith: Wakefield prop forward joins Huddersfield Giants". BBC Sport. 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  13. "Huddersfield guarantee Super League top-four spot with win over Wakefield". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  14. "DANIEL SMITH LEAVES GIANTS". www.giantsrl.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  15. Darbyshire, Drew (2019-01-29). "Huddersfield forward joins Featherstone on loan". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  16. "Tigers Sign Smith". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  17. "Daniel Smith: Castleford Tigers sign Huddersfield Giants prop". BBC Sport. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
  18. "Super League: Huddersfield 20-18 Castleford Tigers". BBC Sport. 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
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