Darren Smith

  • Playing Career

Playing Career

Vital Statistics

Born
Sunday, 8th December, 1968
Current Age
55 years and 111 days

Awards & Accolades

Dally M Centre Of The Year
1998
Ron McAuliffe Medal
2000

Known Family Links

Brother
Jason Smith

Biography

Versatile player, a potent attacking force at centre or in the second row, came to C’bury from Brisbane Easts in 1990. Smith represented Combined Brisbane against Great Britain as a 20-year-old in 1988 and made his State of Origin debut as a reserve for Queensland in the 1992 series. Conspicuous playing in headgear after suffering severe concussion in 1991, Smith looked certain to press for Australian selection until off-field politics took its toll in 1994. His refusal to renew his contract with C’bury, negotiating with two Brisbane clubs instead, saw him used in the limited role of interchange player. Smith's place in C’bury’s grand final side was taken by youngster Steven Hughes and Smith made little impact when he came on to the field as a replacement. Smith revealed that he had signed with the South Queensland Crushers but he then did an about-face and successfully sought a release from the new club to play with the Brisbane Broncos in 1995. It was unfortunate that Smith hit his best form at a time when the code was in turmoil and he did not represent again until 1997’s Super League season. He proved his durability at the highest level in making three appearances in Queensland’s Tri-Series campaign as well as playing in all five Super League Tests against NZ and Great Britain. When the game reunified in 1998, Smith returned to the Queensland State team and scored the final try in Brisbane's 38-12 thrashing of C’bury in the grand final. In an ironic twist to his career, and after making his Test debut against NZ at the end of the year, Smith announced that he was returning to the Bulldogs in 1999. Smith left the Bulldogs at the end of 2002 – denied the opportunity to finally win a premiership with the club when it was stripped of its competition points – to play with St Helens. At the end of his first English season Smith was inexplicably called into Australia’s Third Test team – despite being 35 years old – during the Ashes series by his former C’bury coach, national coach Chris Anderson who felt the available Kangaroo centres were not experienced enough. Smith returned to Australia in 2004 and made cameo appearances with the Broncos in two matches while playing for Brisbane Easts. He finally retired as a player after Easts was beaten in the grand final of the Queensland Cup.
- ALAN WHITICKER

Playing Career Statistics

All statistics shown in this section are based only on data available in the RLP database, and are not necessarily a complete and/or 100% accurate representation of a player's career. This information should be used as a guide only. If you see a question mark (?), it denotes that the figure is not available.

To view a list of corresponding matches, click on the List button.

Competitions

Competition   App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
National Panasonic Cup 2 1 -   - 4 0 2 0 0.00% List
NRL 290 115 1   - 462 187 95 8 64.48% List
Tooheys Challenge Cup 3 2 -   - 8 2 1 0 66.67% List
State of Origin 22 2 -   - 8 9 11 2 40.91% List
NRL Finals 17 6 -   - 24 7 10 0 41.18% List
Anzac Tests 2 2 -   - 8 2 0 0 100.00% List
Test Series 4 2 -   - 8 3 1 0 75.00% List
Tri-Nations 3 - -   - - 2 1 0 66.67% List
Tour Matches Australia 2 - -   - - 2 0 0 100.00% List
Challenge Cup 4 5 -   - 20 3 1 0 75.00% List
World Club Challenge 1 - -   - - 0 1 0 0.00% List
Super League 26 14 -   - 56 13 12 1 50.00% List
The Ashes 1 - -   - - 1 0 0 100.00% List


International

Test Matches - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Australia (SL) 1997 5 3 -   - 12 3 2 0 60.00% List
Australia 1998-99, 2003 7 2 -   - 8 6 1 0 85.71% List
Overall1997-2003 12 5 0   0 20 9 3 0 75.00% List


Representative

Australia - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Combined Brisbane 1988-89 2 1 -   - 4 0 2 0 0.00% List
QLD 1992-94, 1998-02 22 2 -   - 8 9 11 2 40.91% List
QLD (SL) 1997 3 - -   - - 1 2 0 33.33% List
Overall1988-2002 27 3 0   0 12 10 15 2 37.04% List


Club Career

NRL/NSWRL - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canterbury NSWRL 1990 21 6 -   - 24 11 9 1 52.38% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1991 23 6 -   - 24 13 9 1 56.52% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1992 13 8 -   - 32 5 8 0 38.46% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1993 22 9 1 / 2 50.00% - 38 15 7 0 68.18% List
Canterbury NSWRL 1994 21 7 -   - 28 17 4 0 80.95% List
Brisbane ARL 1995 21 11 -   - 44 14 7 0 66.67% List
Brisbane ARL 1996 20 14 -   - 56 16 4 0 80.00% List
Brisbane Super League 1997 19 8 -   - 32 16 2 1 84.21% List
Brisbane NRL 1998 27 23 -   - 92 21 5 1 77.78% List
Canterbury NRL 1999 23 5 -   - 20 14 8 1 60.87% List
Bulldogs NRL 2000 22 3 -   - 12 9 12 1 40.91% List
Bulldogs NRL 2001 23 6 -   - 24 14 7 2 60.87% List
Bulldogs NRL 2002 17 3 -   - 12 14 3 0 82.35% List
Brisbane NRL 2004 2 2 -   - 8 1 1 0 50.00% List
Brisbane NRL 2005 16 4 -   - 16 7 9 0 43.75% List

NRL/NSWRL - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
Canterbury 1990-94, 1999-02 185 53 1 / 2 50.00% - 214 112 67 6 60.54% List
Brisbane 1995-98, 2004-05 105 62 -   - 248 75 28 2 71.43% List
Overall1990-2005 290 115 1 / 2 50.00% 0 462 187 95 8 64.48% List

English Career - By Year

Team Season App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St Helens 2003 31 19 -   - 76 16 14 1 51.61% List

English Career - By Team

Team Years App T G   GK % FG Pts W L D Win %  
St Helens 2003 31 19 -   - 76 16 14 1 51.61% List

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Contributions: Rugby League Tables, Andrew Ferguson, Shawn Dollin, Paul Carter, Greg Fiveash, AJ Lucantonio, Alan Katzmann, Bill Bates, Terry Liberopoulos, Max Turner, Steven Russo

Sources: ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1997, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1998, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 1999, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2001, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2002, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1996, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2000, NRL Rugby League Yearbook 2003, NRL 2004 Official Rugby League Annual, Richard Bailey's Rugby League World, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1990-91, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1991-92, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1992-93, NSWRL Rugby League Yearbook 1994, ARL Rugby League Yearbook 1995