Darrell Griffin (born 19 June 1981) is an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

footballer who plays for the

Keighley Cougars The Keighley Cougars are a professional rugby league club from Keighley in West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Cougar Park and compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby le ...

in League 1. An

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international representative , his former clubs include the

Oxford Cavaliers Oxford Cavaliers Rugby League Football Club is the first amateur rugby league club formed in Oxford in the summer era. For almost thirty years, the Cavaliers have coached and developed several players who have gone on to play the game both pro ...

, the

London Broncos The London Broncos are a professional rugby league club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, England. They play their home games at Plough Lane and currently compete in the RFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of British rugby le ...

(Academy), the

Wakefield Trinity Wildcats Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home fixtures at the DIY Kitchen Stadium, Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier of the British rugby le ...

, the

Huddersfield Giants The Huddersfield Giants are an English professional rugby league club from Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. Huddersfield play their home games at the John Smiths Stadium and compete in Super League, the top tier of British rugby league sy ...

, the

Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...

, the

Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...

and

Featherstone Rovers Featherstone Rovers are a professional rugby league club in Featherstone, West Yorkshire, England. The club play home games at Post Office Road and currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of British rugby league. Featherstone ...

Background

Darrell Griffin was born in

Witney Witney is a market town on the River Windrush in West Oxfordshire in the county of Oxfordshire, England. It is west of Oxford. History The Toponymy, place-name "Witney" is derived from the Old English for "Witta's island". The earliest kno ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, England.

Playing career

Griffin came through the youth system at both Oxford and Witney Rugby Club. He joined

in June 2003 from

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

side Harlequins. He made his Super League début in 2003 and played for Wakefield Trinity for three years. He was transferred from Wakefield Trinity Wildcats to the

, where he had a successful spell, making over 100 appearances in five years. He was named in the England training squad for the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth World Cup for men’s rugby league national teams. It was held between 26 October and 22 November and was won by New Zealand, who defeated Australia 34–20 in the final in one of the greatest ...

. He was also named in the England team to face

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at the

Keepmoat Stadium The Eco-Power Stadium (formerly known as Keepmoat Stadium) is a multi-purpose stadium in Doncaster, England, with a capacity of 15,231. It cost approximately £20 million to construct, as part of the wider Lakeside Sports Complex that it ...

Doncaster Doncaster ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England. Named after the River Don, Yorkshire, River Don, it is the administrative centre of the City of Doncaster metropolitan borough, and is the second largest se ...

prior to England's departure for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. Griffin was transferred from

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on a three-year contract in October 2011. He played in the 2012 Challenge Cup Final defeat by

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

. Griffin was a member of the Leeds team that won the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by ...

with victory over

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

. He was transferred from Leeds to

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

in 2013 and played for three seasons before leaving at the end of the 2015 season. At the start of the 2016 season Griffin joined

, and played for the club until the end of the 2017 season.

Featherstone Rovers - RFL Dispute

In early January 2018 he was sacked by Featherstone Rovers. Featherstone Rovers cited a breach of contract in that Griffin had played some rugby union games for Morley R.F.C. without the written consent of Featherstone Rovers. Griffin took Featherstone to an RFL tribunal disputing the allegation. In April 2018 the tribunal announced that Griffin was not in breach of his contract and had not committed any gross misconduct. After the tribunal, with compensation from Featherstone still to be settled, Griffin signed a one-year contract with

Personal life

His younger brothers

Josh Griffin Josh Griffin (born 9 May 1990) is an English rugby league footballer who plays as a or er for Wakefield Trinity in the Championship. He has previously played for the Hull FC, Huddersfield Giants, Castleford Tigers and the Salford Red Devils ...

, and George Griffin are also rugby league players. All three brothers played together for Salford in the 2015 season.

References

External links

London Broncos profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Featherstone Rovers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Griffin, Darrell 1981 births Living people England national rugby league team players English rugby league players English rugby union players Featherstone Rovers players Harlequin F.C. players Huddersfield Giants players Keighley Cougars players Leeds Rhinos players Morley R.F.C. players Sportspeople from Witney Rugby league players from Oxfordshire Rugby league props Rugby union players from Oxford Salford Red Devils players Sportspeople from Oxford Wakefield Trinity players