Darrell Christopher Williams is a New Zealand
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
selector and
NRL Judiciary
The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs.
Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...
member and a former footballer and coach. A
New Zealand international representative outside back, he played his club football in the
Auckland Rugby League
The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...
for
Mt Albert and in Sydney's
NSWRFL Premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sou ...
for the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
(with whom he won the
1987 NSWRL Grand Final
The 1987 NSWRL season was the 80th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in ...
) and the
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League.
The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
.
He later coached the
Samoan national team.
Playing career
New Zealand
Williams started his playing career in the
Auckland Rugby League
The Auckland Rugby League (ARL) is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region, including both club and school rugby league. It began in 1910 when the fi ...
competition where he played with the
Mt Albert club. His form for Mt Albert also saw him selected to play for the
Auckland representative side against touring national sides
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
(1984) and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
(
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
). He was selected for the 1985 New Zealand Tour of Great Britain and France and would make his test debut playing on the wing in the third test against
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
at the
Elland Road
Elland Road is a football stadium in Beeston, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England, which has been the home of Premier League club Leeds United since the club's formation in 1919. The stadium is the 14th largest football stadium in England.
The g ...
ground in
Leeds
Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by populati ...
which ended in a 6-all draw. Between 1985 and 1990, Williams gained selection for
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
on 21 occasions. He scored 5 tries in his test career including scoring a double in the third game of the
1986 Trans-Tasman Test series The 1986 New Zealand rugby league tour of Australia and Papua New Guinea was a tour by the New Zealand national rugby league team. Test matches were played in New Zealand, Australia and Papua New Guinea. The tour began on 6 July in Auckland and fin ...
against Australia at
Lang Park
Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...
in
Brisbane
Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, though Australia would win the game 32–12 and the series 3–0.
Australia
Williams moved to Australia to play in the
NSWRL premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...
for the
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
at the start of the
1987 NSWRL season
The 1987 NSWRL season was the 80th season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Thirteen clubs competed for the New South Wales Rugby League premiership's J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup during the season, which culminated in ...
. He made his debut for the Sea Eagles in the wing in a 4-all draw with
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
in the opening round of the season. On 21 July 1987, Williams played fullback for NZ in their shock 13–6 win over Australia at Lang Park. It would be the only time he would be on the winning side in 9 tests against the Australians. He would go on to play in Manly's Grand Final winning team that year, becoming the first Kiwi to play in an Australian
grand final
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
-winning team. Following the grand final victory he travelled with Manly to England for the
1987 World Club Challenge
The 1987 World Club Challenge (also known as the 1987 Foster's World Club Challenge due to sponsorship by brewers, Foster's) was the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's domestic rugby league champion clubs. Ch ...
against their champions,
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
.
During the
1988 Great Britain Lions tour
The 1988 Great Britain Lions tour was the Great Britain national rugby league team's 18th tour of Australasia and took place from May to July 1988. It started with a Test match against Papua New Guinea before the best-of-three series against Austr ...
the New Zealand national team hosted the British side for a
Test match Test match in some sports refers to a sporting contest between national representative teams and may refer to:
* Test cricket
* Test match (indoor cricket)
* Test match (rugby union)
* Test match (rugby league)
* Test match (association football)
...
at
Addington Showgrounds
Orangetheory Stadium is a rugby football stadium in Christchurch, New Zealand. It was formerly called AMI Stadium, and before that, the Addington Showgrounds.
History
The park is part of a complex with Christchurch Arena and Addington Raceway ...
and Williams played for the Kiwis at
fullback in their 12 – 10 defeat of Great Britain on Sunday, 17 July before a crowd of 8,525. The result of this match determined that New Zealand would contest the final of the 1985–1988 World Cup tournament's final to be played later in the year, but Williams did not play.
During the
1989 Kangaroo tour of New Zealand Williams was selected to play for the Kiwis at fullback in all three tests against Australia. In the third test of the
1989 Trans-Tasman series against Australia in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, Williams was on the receiving end of a famous hit from Australian
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
;
Wally Lewis
Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the spo ...
. This tackle was later described by commentator
Ray Warren
Raymond Warren OAM (born 11 June 1943) is a retired Australian sports commentator, known for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. He is known as the "Voice of Rugby League", and called 99 State of O ...
as easily the biggest he's ever seen.
During the
1990 Great Britain Lions tour Williams played for New Zealand against the British at fullback in the first test and at centre in the 2nd and 3rd. His final test appearance for NZ came on 19 August 1990 when he played in the centres against
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
at the
Athletic Park stadium in
Wellington
Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by me ...
, with the Australians winning the game 24–6.
The
1994 NSWRL season
The 1994 NSWRL season (known as the 1994 Winfield Cup Premiership due to sponsorship from Winfield) was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within the borders of New South ...
was Willims last and was spent playing for the
Parramatta Eels
The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League.
The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...
.
Later years
Following his retirement from playing at the end of the
1994 NSWRL season
The 1994 NSWRL season (known as the 1994 Winfield Cup Premiership due to sponsorship from Winfield) was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within the borders of New South ...
, Williams was appointed a
National Rugby League
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
judiciary member. He was later appointed coach of the
Samoa national rugby league team
The Samoa national rugby league team represents Samoa in rugby league football and has participated in international competition since 1986. Known as Western Samoa before 1997, the team is administered by Rugby League Samoa and are nicknamed To ...
for their
2000 World Cup campaign. Samoa reached the quarter finals where they faced eventual champions Australia and were knocked out. Williams has also been a selector for the
New Zealand national side. During the lead up to the
2008 NRL grand final Williams, at the time the longest-serving member of the
NRL Judiciary
The NRL Judiciary is the disciplinary judiciary of the National Rugby League (NRL), a rugby league competition. The Judiciary regulates the on-field conduct of players from NRL clubs.
Due to changes announced on the eve of the 2022 NRL season, th ...
, threatened legal action against the
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are a rugby league club based in Melbourne, Victoria in Australia that participates in the National Rugby League. The first fully professional rugby league team based in the state, the Storm entered the competition in 1998. ...
for criticism levelled at the judiciary over their controversial suspension of Storm captain
Cameron Smith Cameron Smith may refer to:
* Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1983), Australian rugby league footballer
* Cameron Smith (rugby league, born 1998), English rugby league footballer
* Cameron Smith (golfer) (born 1993), Australian golfer
* Cammy Smi ...
. This led to Storm coach
Craig Bellamy
Craig Douglas Bellamy (born 13 July 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a forward and is current assistant manager at EFL Championship side Burnley. Born in Cardiff, Bellamy began his senior playing career with Norw ...
and then-CEO Brian Waldron paying out $105,000 plus legal costs to Williams and the other judiciary panellists in late 2010.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Darrell
New Zealand rugby league players
Mount Albert Lions players
New Zealand national rugby league team players
Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players
Parramatta Eels players
New Zealand rugby league coaches
Samoa national rugby league team coaches
Living people
New Zealand rugby league administrators
New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent
Auckland rugby league team players
Rugby league fullbacks
Rugby league centres
Year of birth missing (living people)