St Helens' Daryl Clark eyeing up a fifth Wembley trip | Betfred Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals

With the Betfred Challenge Cup quarter-finals almost upon us, there’s one man hoping he can reach Wembley Finals Day for the fifth time in his playing career – and it’s St Helens’ Daryl Clark.

2024 will mark ten years since the 31-year-old’s very first appearance on the big stage, where he walked out at Wembley as proud as punch with his hometown club Castleford Tigers; the first time in the club’s history since 1992.

He has since gone on to feature in three further Challenge Cup Finals playing for Warrington Wolves – a former side he is preparing to face for the first time in Sunday’s quarter-final clash.

Making the move to St Helens for the 2024 season, Clark became only the third player to wear the number 9 shirt in 30 years, following in the footsteps of Saints legends Keiron Cunningham and James Roby.

With big boots to fill, Clark, a talented hooker, brings vast experience of playing in cup finals – on both the winning and losing side - making him the perfect fit for a success-driven and star-studded St Helens side.

Nearly a third of the way in to the new season, Clark has settled in perfectly with his new club, and gave his thoughts on St Helens’ season and his side's performances so far:

“I’m really enjoying it - we’ve had a pretty decent start. We’ve only had the two losses and we know that we could always be better, but we’re pretty pleased with the start.

“It was obviously a disappointing game in Catalans just gone but we’re looking to bounce straight back in the Challenge Cup this week.”

Paul Wellens’ men ensured back-to-back wins in West Yorkshire in March, with a Super League and Sixth Round Challenge Cup victory over Leeds Rhinos.

“I think it’s always a bit difficult when you play the same teams back-to-back,” Clark admitted, who scored a crucial show and go try from dummy half in their recent Round 6 cup win - to edge his side in front.

“Over the years when I’ve seen this happen, not many teams seem to win both games, so to go there and tick them both off was a good achievement.

“We were really pleased with both wins.”

Looking back on his Challenge Cup career, Clark recalls a couple of special moments, with the 2014 and 2019 Finals being his most memorable ones:

“Apart from the obvious one, 2014 was a stand out for me. Being a Castleford boyhood fan and spending a lot of my youth there meant walking out at Wembley with my hometown club, even though we lost, was really special.

“All of my family are from Castleford too.”

And despite a disappointing loss to their local rivals Leeds Rhinos that day, Clark went on to score his first ever Wembley try, in what arguably became the breakthrough year of his career.

2014 saw Clark snap up both the Young Player of the Year and Steve Prescott MBE Man of Steel Awards in the same year, before signing for Warrington the following season.

Ten years on, Clark reflected on the time gone by:

“It’s been a long time, and it goes by quickly pretty quickly.

“I’ve played a lot of games, a few finals, and a lot of games for England during those ten years, so I’ve probably got a better understanding of the game and a bit more patience now.

“I’ve definitely got that experience from and with the teams I’ve played in and the games I’ve played in.”

Having caught the eye of Warrington and at the time their then head coach Tony Smith, the savvy hooker became a key man in the Wolves side, making over 240 appearances between the 2015 and 2023 seasons.

During this time, the Wolves would go on to reach Wembley on three occasions, although 2016 and 2018 would see heart-breaking losses.

Clark starred on the day, coming up with Warrington’s match-winning try and was finally able to lift the Challenge Cup trophy after years of longing.

He also picked up another well-deserved individual accolade in The Lance Todd Trophy for his magnificent performance, and Clark has referred to this moment as his ultimate career highlight:

“It has to be when we beat St Helens in the 2019 Final. Having lost the Challenge Cup at three attempts prior to that – and to get my first major trophy, as well as the match-winner and The Lance Todd – it just made it all a lot more special.

“I don’t remember much from that day if I’m honest. I just remember feeling the relief at the end of the game when I knew I’d finally won the Challenge Cup.”

As celebrations broke out post-match, Clark remembers sharing this moment with his Warrington team-mates, a few of which he may come up against in Sunday’s quarter-final while in the Red V.

The Wolves have enjoyed an extremely strong start to their 2024 campaign under new head coach Sam Burgess and have only endured two narrow defeats at the hands of Catalans Dragons.

It will be Burgess’ biggest test yet where any silverware is concerned, and Clark gave his thoughts on his opposition - the opposition he used to be a part of:

“I think they’re going pretty well. They’re one of the most in-form teams in the league at the moment.

“They had a really good win at Leeds last week and we didn’t have a great performance just gone.

“Their confidence will be flying high, but we’ll be looking to bounce back and get a performance in.

“It’s two different results for the team’s leading up to this game. They’ll be wanting to carry on their great form, but we don’t want back-to-back defeats and we want to get a good win. It’ll be interesting for sure.

“I’m really close and really good mates with Stefan Ratchford, so if he’s playing it’ll feel a bit weird being on the different side to him, but exciting at the same time.”

As an individual who’s experienced plenty of Challenge Cup games in his career, Clark explained what the cup and its competition meant to him personally, as he recognises the magnitude of the game on Sunday:

“I’ve been involved in a lot of Challenge Cup games. It’s full of history – I’ve grown up watching Challenge Cup Finals and watching Castleford play in the Challenge Cup.

“Every player will tell you if they’ve experienced it and been to Wembley, then they’ll know how big of an occasion it is and how good it is to get their hands on the trophy.

“It’s definitely not taken lightly by me and I’m pretty sure my team-mates feel the same, and it’s definitely something we want to get our hands on, so we’ve got a massive game coming up.

“Knock out rugby league always has a different feeling to it during the week. We’ll still prepare the same but I’m sure they’ll be a different feeling knowing that it’s a quarter-final.”

Where specific goals are concerned, Clark admits he hasn't and won't be setting many for himself, but outlines his new club’s sole ambition as the season hots up in both the league and cup:

“When I first came here – the goal was to start the season well, be consistent and play good rugby. I know if I get that right then everything else comes on the back of that.

“As a club, with the success Saints have had, every year the goal and challenge are to walk away with silverware.

“Any year they don’t get silverware is a disappointing year – and that goal hasn’t changed.”

Watch St Helens v Warrington’s Quarter-Final on Sunday 14 April, live on BBC2, K.O. 4:30pm.

A full Betfred Challenge Cup Quarter-Finals Preview can be found here.

The Men's 2024 Betfred Challenge Cup Final (KO 3pm) is part of a Finals Day triple-header at Wembley Stadium on Saturday 8 June, alongside the finals of the Betfred Women's Challenge Cup (KO 11.45am) and the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup (KO 5.45pm). Plus, there will be the traditional Year 7 Boys’ Champion Schools Final at 10am. Tickets are available online now from only £20 Adults and £10 Under 16s, with family packages also available.