Clark to put disappointing year behind him
Warrington rake Daryl Clark wants to put his annus horribilis behind him and get back to his Man of Steel form in 2016.
Clark was near unstoppable two years ago and helped Castleford into the Challenge Cup final and close to winning the League Leader’s Shield.
He took out both the Man of Steel and Young Player of the year awards in 2014, averaging a try in every second game, and made his international debut for England.
That season earned Clark a transfer from the Tigers to Warrington in 2015 but the hooker failed to replicate those kind of past performances at the Halliwell Jones Stadium.
The Wire’s campaign petered out and the team was unable to reach Old Trafford or Wembley. Clark was also overlooked for England’s series against the Kiwis.
“I thought 2015 was disappointing as a whole,” he said.
“From having such a good year the year before to a bit up and down the year after.
“But I’m going to try and put that behind me this year, work hard and get back to playing some good rugby like in 2014.
“After having a disappointing year last year I don’t want to set too many big goals.
“I just want to get back playing some good rugby and as long as you get that sorted then everything else comes on the back of that.”
There will be a new look to Warrington’s spine this year with the departure of Richie Myler and Gareth O’Brien and the arrival of Kurt Gidley.
“It’s going to be a bit different with the halfback pairings this year, I’m not sure what the fullback and halfback pairings are going to be,” Clark admits.
“We’re just trying out different combinations in the games coming up to see what’s best and then hopefully we can get some good combinations and some good rugby played.”
Expectations will be high at Warrington with the additions of Tom Lineham and Joe Westerman from Hull FC and Mitchell Dodds from the NRL.
The Wolves put 40 points on Widnes and did not concede a try in their only friendly to date.
The 22-year old said the Warrington squad is not setting any targets or goals just yet.
“Every team’s striving for those same goals but we’ve not even played a game yet so I’d not like to say no, we’re not putting too many things in front [of us],” Clark said.
“But we’ve made some good signings and it feels like we’ve got a great team and a great squad.
“So if everything goes to plan hopefully we can do something special this year.”