Daryl Powell

Daryl A. Powell (born 21 July 1965) is and English professional rugby league coach who is the head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League. He is a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a stand-off in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s.

Daryl Powell

Personal information
Full name	Daryl A. Powell
Born	21 July 1965 Ackworth, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England
Playing information
Position	Centre, Stand-off, Loose forward
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1984–95 Sheffield Eagles 1988–90 Balmain Tigers 4 2 0 0 8 1991 Gold Coast Seagulls 13 1 0 0 4 1995–97 Keighley Cougars 42 10 0 0 40 1998–2001 Leeds Rhinos 79 12 0 2 50 Total 138 25 0 2 102 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1989–96 Great Britain 27 2 0 0 8 1995 England 4 0 0 0 0
Coaching information
Rugby league
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1996–97 Keighley Cougars 24 14 1 9 58 2001–03 Leeds Rhinos 59 34 1 24 58 2008–13 Featherstone Rovers 137 104 3 30 76 2013– Castleford Tigers 205 121 5 79 59 Total 425 273 10 142 64
Rugby union
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 2006–08 Leeds Tykes
As of 25 January 2021 Source: [1][2][3][4]

He played for Sheffield Eagles, Keighley Cougars and Leeds Rhinos, as well as Balmain Tigers and Gold Coast Seagulls in Australia. He played over 450 games including 33 caps for Great Britain, and made appearances in the Super League Grand Final and in two Challenge Cup Finals for the Leeds Rhinos.[1][2][3][4] At Sheffield he formed a key partnership with Mark Aston, and holds the club record for the most individual tries in a match (5) and he did hold the record for most career tries (114) until this was broken by Menzie Yere in 2013.

Background

Powell was born in Ackworth, Wakefield, West Riding of Yorkshire, England.

Playing career

Powell was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. His Testimonial match at Sheffield Eagles took place in 1994. He played for England in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup.

Leeds Rhinos

Powell played for Leeds at stand-off half in their 1998 Super League Grand Final loss to Wigan.[5] He was a member of the Rhinos' 1999 Challenge Cup winning team. He played stand-off in the final as the Rhinos beat London Broncos 52–16 to claim their first silverware since 1978.[6]

Coaching career

Keighley Cougars

Powell's first coaching appointment was as player/coach at Keighley where he was appointed at the end of the 1996 season. He was in charge for 24 games before his transfer to Leeds at the end of June 1997 although his tenure as coach at Keighley continued until July 1997. Under his leadership Keighley won 14, lost 9 and drew 1 game.[7]

Leeds Rhinos

After he retired from playing in 2001, he became coach of Leeds Rhinos. The Rhinos appeared to be on an upward trajectory under Powell, finishing 5th then 4th in his first two seasons.

In his third season in charge, the club reached the 2003 Challenge Cup Final but lost 22–20 to Bradford Bulls. Trailing by 2 points with 5 minutes remaining, the Rhinos were awarded a penalty. Captain Kevin Sinfield famously opted not to take a shot at goal which would have levelled the scores. The decision backfired with the Bulls' defensive line holding firm to deny the Rhinos their first major silverware in over 30 years. The cup final defeat did not appear to affect Leeds' Super League form as they established a commanding lead at the top of the table. In spite of this, it was announced in July 2003 that Powell would be moved into a director of rugby role the following season to make way for Tony Smith to take over as head coach.[8] Following the announcement, the Rhinos form dipped and they surrendered their lead at the top of the table to the Bradford Bulls. They then crashed out of the play-offs without winning a game.[9]

During his tenure as Rhinos coach, he handed debuts to numerous future club legends including Danny McGuire, Rob Burrow, Matt Diskin and Ryan Bailey. He also handed, a then 22-year old, Kevin Sinfield the captaincy.[10] The group would go on to form the nucleus of the clubs famous "Golden generation".[11]

Ireland

In 2004 Powell was assistant coach to Andy Kelly for the Ireland national team.[12] He helped to lead the team to the final of the 2004 European Nations Cup where they went down 36–12 to England.[13]

Leeds Tykes

In July 2005 he made the switch to rugby union when he became the offensive coach and matchday manager for Leeds Tykes. In January 2006 he was promoted to head coach, but the season ended in disappointment when the Tykes were relegated.

Featherstone Rovers

He was appointed head coach of Featherstone Rovers in September 2008.[14]

He oversaw one of the most successful periods in Featherstone Rovers' history, leading them to three consecutive Championship League Leaders' Shields and Grand Finals between 2010 and 2012.[15] Despite winning the Championship Grand Final in 2011, Featherstone were not promoted to super league due to the controversial licensing system in place at the time.[16] Subsequently, Powell continued to ply his trade in the second tier in 2012. In addition to again, leading the club to the 2012 league leaders shield and grand final, Powell also masterminded a famous victory over Super League side and local rivals Castleford in the Challenge Cup in what would prove to be his final season at the club.[17]

Castleford Tigers

On 7 May 2013, Powell was announced as the new head coach of Featherstone Rovers' local rivals Castleford Tigers.[18]

Powell was awarded the Coach of the Year award for 2014, after getting the club to their first Wembley appearance for twenty years and their highest league position since Super League began. He coached the club to the 2014 Challenge Cup Final defeat by the Leeds Rhinos at Wembley Stadium.[19]

He oversaw arguably Castleford's greatest ever season in 2017 when they won the league leaders shield for the first time in their history.[20] Despite finishing first in the regular season by a record margin, a first top flight title continued to allude Powell as the Tigers were defeated in the 2017 Super League Grand Final by the Leeds Rhinos at Old Trafford in a major upset.[21][22][23]

References

1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
2. "England Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
3. "Great Britain Statistics at englandrl.co.uk". englandrl.co.uk. 31 December 2017. Archived from the original on 18 April 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
4. "Coach Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
5. "Super League III 1998 - Results". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
6. "Sport: Rugby League Rhino charge overpowers Broncos". BBC Sport. 1 May 1999. Retrieved 26 January 2014.
7. Fletcher, Raymond & Howes, David (1998). Rothman's Rugby League Yearbook 1998. p. 80. ISBN 978-0747-276-838.
8. "Powell handed a time-out by Leeds". The Guardian. 31 July 2003. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
9. "Super League VIII Results". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
10. "Daryl Powell's road to the Grand Final as Castleford face Leeds". Sky Sports. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
11. "As Good As It Gets: The story of Leeds Rhinos' golden generation". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
12. "Ireland plan to give it a go". BBC Sport. 5 November 2004.
13. "Powell proud of plucky Irish". Leeds Rhinos. 9 November 2004. Retrieved 27 May 2020.
14. "Powell named Featherstone coach". BBC Sport. 8 September 2008. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
15. "Daryl Powell: Castleford Tigers appoint Featherstone coach". BBC Sport. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
16. "Elston welcomes wake-up call". 26 July 2011. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
17. "Featherstone 23 - 16 Castleford". Sky Sports. 14 April 2012. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
18. "Daryl Powell joins Castleford". The Independent. 7 May 2013. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
19. "Leeds lift Challenge Cup after Ryan Hall's double stuns Castleford". The Guardian. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
20. "Castleford win league leaders shield for first time". BT Sport. 17 August 2017. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
21. "Castleford 6-24 Leeds: Grand Final 2017 – as it happened". The Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
22. "Grand Final 2017: Castleford 6-24 Leeds Rhinos". BBC Sport. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.
23. "Danny McGuire guides Leeds to Grand Final success over Castleford". The Guardian. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2019.

External links

• Castleford Tigers profile
• (archived by web.archive.org) Featherstone Rovers website
• BBC – Daryl Powell
• (archived by web.archive.org) Profile at leedsrugby
• (archived by web.archive.org) When Britain defeated the Aussies