Daryl Powell

Daryl A. Powell (born 21 July 1965) is an English rugby league coach and former professional rugby league footballer. He is the head coach of Wakefield Trinity who play in the RFL Championship.

He played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s for the Sheffield Eagles, the Keighley Cougars and the Leeds Rhinos, as well as Balmain Tigers and Gold Coast Seagulls in Australia. He played more than 450 games including 33 caps for Great Britain, and made appearances in the Super League Grand Final and in two Challenge Cup Finals for Leeds. 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.

Powell's first move into coaching was with Keighley Cougars as a player-coach. After retiring, he became head coach of the Leeds Rhinos in 2001, and later became their director of rugby. He coached the Ireland national rugby league team as well as rugby union side Leeds Tykes, before a return to domestic rugby league in 2008 with Featherstone Rovers in the Championship who he led to three consecutive first-placed finishes. In 2013, he was appointed head coach of the Castleford Tigers in the Super League where, across nine seasons, he won the League Leaders' Shield and reached three major finals. He coached the Warrington Wolves for two seasons before taking charge of Wakefield Trinity ahead of the 2024 campaign.

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. 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.

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.

Leeds Rhinos
After Powell retired from playing in 2001, he became the head 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. 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.

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. The group would go on to form the nucleus of the clubs famous "Golden generation".

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

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.

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. 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. 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.

Castleford Tigers
On 7 May 2013, Powell was announced as the new head coach of struggling Super League side Castleford Tigers.

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.

Powell oversaw arguably one of Castleford's greatest ever seasons in 2017 when they won the League Leaders' Shield by topping the table for the first time in their history. 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.

Warrington Wolves
On 19 March 2021, before the start of the delayed 2021 season, it was announced that Powell would leave Castleford Tigers at the end of the campaign, with early rumours linking him to Warrington Wolves, whose Head Coach Steve Price had also announced he would be leaving at the end of the 2021 campaign. Daryl Powell was announced as Warrington Wolves coach on 6 April 2021, taking over at the start of the 2022 season.

On 30 July 2023, an official statement from Warrington confirmed, that Powell (alongside assistant coach Ryan Sheridan), had left the club by mutual consent, after losing a 6th consecutive game to bottom-placed Wakefield Trinity.

Wakefield Trinity
On 24 September 2023, it was announced that Powell would take over as head coach on a four-year deal following Wakefield's relegation from Super League.

On 8 June 2024, Powell led the club to victory in the RFL 1895 Cup at Wembley Stadium defeating Sheffield Eagles 50-6.