Daniel Smith (rugby league)

Dan Smith

Personal information
Full name	Daniel Smith
Born	(1993-03-20) 20 March 1993 (age 30) Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	17 st 5 lb (110 kg) [1]
Playing information
Position	Prop, 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 38 6 0 0 24 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 6 2 0 0 8 2019–23 Castleford Tigers 75 5 0 0 20 2023(DR) → Halifax Panthers 1 0 0 0 0 2023(loan) → Featherstone Rovers 2 0 0 0 0 2023 Featherstone Rovers 0 0 0 0 0 2024– Bradford Bulls 0 0 0 0 0 Total 180 20 0 0 80
Source: [2] [3] [4] As of 31 October 2023

Daniel Smith (born 20 March 1993) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a prop and loose forward for Bradford Bulls in the RFL Championship.

Smith is a Leeds Rhinos academy graduate. He previously played for Wakefield Trinity Wildcats, Huddersfield Giants and Castleford Tigers (Heritage № 990) in the Super League, and South Sydney Rabbitohs in the NRL. He has spent time at Oldham (Heritage № 1300), Featherstone Rovers and Halifax Panthers on dual registration from Leeds, Wakefield and Castleford respectively. He has also spent time at Oldham on loan from Huddersfield, and at Featherstone on loan from both Huddersfield and Castleford.

Background

Smith was born in Pontefract, West Yorkshire, England. He is the brother of fellow rugby league footballer Cameron Smith. ^[5] He attended Castleford High School. ^[6]

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. ^{[7] [8]}

Career

Leeds Rhinos

Smith was promoted to the senior Leeds squad prior to the 2012 season, and was allocated squad number 30. ^[9] 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. ^[7] 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. ^[10] 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." ^[11]

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. ^{[11] [12]}

In 2014, he regularly appeared for Wakefield as a prop, and he scored 3 tries in 20 appearances. ^[13] In July 2014, Smith signed a new three-year deal with Wakefield. ^[14]

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. ^[15]

Featherstone Rovers (dual registration)

In 2014, Smith played one game for Featherstone Rovers on dual registration, scoring a try in his only appearance. ^[13]

Huddersfield Giants

In July 2015, Smith was signed by Huddersfield Giants on a four-and-a-half year deal. ^[10]

Smith playing for the Huddersfield Giants in Perpignan, France in 2015

He scored his first try for the Giants against his previous club Wakefield just weeks after completing his move away. ^[16]

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". ^[17] Across his time with Huddersfield, Smith made 50 appearances and scored 5 tries. ^[13]

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. ^[13]

Featherstone Rovers (loan)

Smith re-joined Featherstone Rovers on a one-month loan deal in January 2019. ^[18] In his second stint at the club, he made 5 appearances and scored 2 tries. ^[13]

Castleford Tigers

On 2 April 2019, Castleford Tigers announced the signing of Smith on a deal until the end of the 2020 season. ^[19] 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." ^[19] 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." ^[20]

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. ^[21] He went on to appear 19 times for Castleford in 2019, scoring 1 try. ^[13] Castleford Director of Rugby Jon Wells described him as a "hard-running, ball-playing, offloading" forward. ^[19]

In 2020, Smith played in every game for Castleford until the season was suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. A pectoral injury disrupted his return upon Super League's resumption in August and limited him to 10 appearances that year. ^[22] In December 2020, Smith agreed a contract extension for the 2021 season. ^[23]

In May 2021, Smith signed a new deal with Castleford to stay with the club for a further two years. ^[24] On 17 July 2021, he played for Castleford in their 2021 Challenge Cup Final loss against St. Helens. ^[25] Throughout the 2021 season, Smith made 18 appearances and scored 3 tries. He was predominantly utilised as a prop but also covered loose forward and stand-off.

In May 2023, it was announced that Smith would depart Castleford with immediate effect after his loan move to Featherstone Rovers was made permanent. ^{[26] [27]} During his time with the Tigers, he made a total 75 appearances and scored 5 tries.

Halifax Panthers (dual registration)

In February 2023, Smith played one game for Halifax Panthers on dual registration from Castleford. ^[28]

Featherstone Rovers (loan)

Smith returned to Featherstone on a two-week loan from Castleford in May 2023, marking his third spell with the Rovers. ^[29] He featured at loose forward in wins over Sheffield and Widnes. ^[30]

Featherstone Rovers

Following an initial loan period, Smith joined Featherstone Rovers on a permanent deal in May 2023. ^[30] Head coach Sean Long said, "He's skilful, smart and a hard worker. He's a perfect fit for our brand of rugby." ^[31]

Bradford Bulls

On 31 Oct 2023 it was reported that he will join Bradford Bulls for the 2024 season on a 2-year deal. ^[32]

References

1. "Daniel Smith Biography". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 2022-04-11.
2. "loverugbyleague". Archived from the original on 2018-07-13. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
3. Rugby League Project
4. RL Record Keepers' Club
5. "Leeds Rhinos: Memorable night if not result admits débutant Smith". Yorkshire Evening Post. 2016-05-02. Retrieved 2016-09-13.
6. "Super League: Wakefield Wildcats land former Leeds Rhino Daniel Smith". Sky Sports. 2013-10-11. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
7. "Oldham snap up Rhinos prospect". Chronicle Online. 19 June 2012. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
8. Daly, Phil (2009-02-04). "Rhinos sign latest young stars". Leeds Rhinos. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
9. Correspondent (2011-11-10). "Leeds announce 2012 squad list". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
10. "Huddersfield Giants prop Daniel Smith setting sights on first-team shirt for Super League campaign". Huddersfield Examiner. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
11. Gordon, James (2013-10-11). "Wakefield sign prop Smith". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
12. 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.
13. "Daniel Smith Player Stats". loverugbyleague.com. Retrieved 2014-05-28.
14. Correspondent (2014-07-21). "Daniel Smith extends Wakefield stay". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
15. "Daniel Smith: Wakefield prop forward joins Huddersfield Giants". BBC Sport. 2015-07-14. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
16. "Huddersfield guarantee Super League top-four spot with win over Wakefield". Sky Sports. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
17. "DANIEL SMITH LEAVES GIANTS". www.giantsrl.com. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
18. Darbyshire, Drew (2019-01-29). "Huddersfield forward joins Featherstone on loan". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
19. "Tigers Sign Smith". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
20. "Daniel Smith: Castleford Tigers sign Huddersfield Giants prop". BBC Sport. 2019-04-02. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
21. "Super League: Huddersfield 20-18 Castleford Tigers". BBC Sport. 2019-04-11. Retrieved 2020-04-22.
22. Craven, Dave (2020-12-04). "Castleford Tigers bidding to make Daniel Smith more "durable" in 2021". The Yorkshire Post. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
23. "Daniel Smith: Castleford prop agrees new contract for 2021 season". BBC Sport. 2020-12-04. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
24. "Daniel Smith: Castleford forward signs new contract to stay with club until 2023". BBC Sport. 2021-05-17. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
25. Scott, Ged (2021-07-17). "Challenge Cup: St Helens beat Castleford 26-12 for first Wembley victory since 2008". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2022-02-08.
26. "Smith departs the Tigers". Castleford Tigers. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
27. Shaw, Matthew (2023-05-20). "Castleford Tigers forward set for early exit with Championship move lined up". Rugby League Live. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
28. Heppenstall, Ross (2023-02-17). "Castleford Tigers prop heads to the Championship after surprise 21-man squad inclusion". Yorkshire Live. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
29. McAllister, Josh (2023-05-03). "Castleford forward Daniel Smith heads to the Championship". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
30. McAllister, Josh (2023-05-22). "Castleford confirm Daniel Smith exit with Championship move made permanent". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
31. "Daniel Smith is a Featherstone Player". Featherstone Rovers. 2023-05-22. Retrieved 2023-05-23.
32. "Experienced Bradford Bulls recruit sets out Super League ambitions after becoming 27th confirmed squad member for 2024". Love Rugby League. 31 Oct 2023.

External links

• Castleford Tigers profile
• Huddersfield Giants profile
• SL profile