Danny Wicks

Danny Wicks (born 5 December 1985) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer. He played at prop. Wicks played in the NRL for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, Newcastle Knights and Parramatta Eels. From September 2011 to March 2013, he served an eighteen-month prison sentence for trafficking drugs.

Danny Wicks
Personal information
Born (1985-12-05) 5 December 1985
Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height189 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight106 kg (16 st 10 lb)
PositionProp
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2006–07 St. George Illawarra 29 2 0 0 8
2008–09 Newcastle Knights 40 4 0 0 16
2014–16 Parramatta Eels 35 3 0 0 12
Total 104 9 0 0 36
Source: [1]

Background

Born in Grafton, New South Wales, Wicks played his junior football for the Grafton Ghosts, before being signed by the St. George Illawarra Dragons.

Playing career

Early career

In 2006, Wicks played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons New South Wales Cup team.[2]

2006

In round 10 of the 2006 NRL season, Wicks made his NRL debut for St. George Illawarra against the New Zealand Warriors. Wicks made 17 appearances in his debut season including the preliminary final defeat against Melbourne.[3] He scored a try on debut.

2007

In 2007, Wicks signed a three-year contract with the Newcastle Knights starting in 2008, following Brian Smith's clean out of the club.[4]

Wicks playing for the Newcastle Knights

2009

In December 2009, Wicks was arrested for supplying prohibited drugs and possession of prohibited drugs. After being released on bail, he quit the Knights "so the club can move forward".[5]

2010

In 2010, Wicks played for the Grafton Ghosts while his matter was in the courts,[6] eventually being sentenced to eighteen months in prison.

2014

In May 2014, Wicks' agent started approaching clubs about the possibility of signing him to a contract for 2015, with his four-year WADA suspension for drugs ending in September 2014. During his stay in prison, Wicks lost 20 kilograms to get back to his old playing weight of 106 kilograms.[7] On 30 October 2014, he signed a 1-year contract with the Parramatta Eels starting in 2015.[8][9] He made his return to the NRL in round 2 of the 2015 NRL season against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs.[10] On 11 April 2015, he re-signed with the Eels on a one-year contract.[11] In August 2015, Wicks resigned on a two-year deal with Parramatta.

2016

In November 2016, Wicks announced his immediate retirement from rugby league despite signing a two-year contract extension with the Parramatta Eels earlier that year.[12]

2017

On 13 July 2017 it was revealed that Wicks had resumed playing on the NSW Mid North Coast with Group 2 side the Grafton Ghosts.[13] He captain-coached the team to win both a premiership and the NSW Country Rugby League's Clayton Cup.[14][15]

Drug conviction

On 16 December 2009, Wicks was arrested and charged with eight drug related offences, including six counts of supplying a prohibited drug and two counts of possessing a prohibited drug. Police said that Strike Force Welham had been set up to investigate the supply of amphetamine, cocaine and ecstasy in the Clarence Valley region. Wicks was arrested as he drove his car along Brunker Road, Adamstown at around 6:30am, as part of coordinated police raids in four locations.[16] In September 2011, he was sentenced to a maximum of three years in jail after being found guilty of trafficking drugs.[17] He was released on 29 March 2013 after serving eighteen months of a three-year sentence at Glen Innes Correctional Centre.[18]

References
  1. "Danny Wicks - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  2. Archived 28 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine
  3. "NRL 2006 - Round 10". Rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  4. Coomber, John (6 September 2007). "Running aground in the Hunter" (fee required). AAP Sports News. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
  5. Brett Keeble. "Danny Wicks drugs". Smh.com.au. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  6. "Danny Wicks Makes Bush Footy Return for 50". Dailytelegraph.com.auaccessdate=2015-03-13.
  7. "Danny Wicks Pleads for NRL CLubs to Resurrect his League Career". Dailytelegraph.com.auaccessdate=2015-03-13.
  8. "Eels Announce Five Signings For 2015 - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  9. "FOX SPORTS News on Twitter: ".@TheParraEels coach Brad Arthur confirms club has signed former Newcastle Prop Danny Wicks #NRL"". Twitter.com. 9 September 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  10. "Late Mail: NRL Round Two - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 13 March 2015.
  11. NRL. "Eels Extend Wicks Contract - Eels". Parraeels.com.au. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
  12. "Wicks walks out on Eels and rugby league". Courier Mail. 7 November 2016.
  13. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sport/nrl/nrl-bad-boy-paul-carter-to-take-on-exeels-star-danny-wicks-in-group-2/news-story/c14b839118d45add03424818a33cbfad
  14. "GRAND FINAL: Grafton Ghosts score spirited grand final win". The Daily Examiner. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  15. Potter, Jarrard (3 October 2017). "Ghosts claim CRL's Clayton Cup". The Daily Examiner. Retrieved 14 April 2020.
  16. "Newcastle Knights star Danny Wicks charged by police". The Sydney Morning Herald. 16 December 2009.
  17. "Wicks has devastated family: father". smh.com.au. 30 September 2011. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
  18. Rothfield, Phil (29 March 2013). "EXCLUSIVE: Former NRL star Danny Wicks has been released from jail and opens up on life behind bars". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
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