Darryl Duncan is a former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. Duncan was a character of the

Brisbane Rugby League The Brisbane Rugby League is a rugby league football competition in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It was first held in 1922 and for every year until 1997. The competition was reinstated in 2001, known as the FOGS premiership under the Queen ...

(BRL) and was signed by Brisbane club Valleys in 1980 after playing much of his junior football in

Mount Isa Mount Isa ( ) is a city in the Gulf Country region of Queensland, Australia. It came into existence because of the vast mineral deposits found in the area. Mount Isa Mines (MIM) is one of the most productive single mines in world history, bas ...

. He made his first grade debut for the

Valleys Diehards The Fortitude Valley Diehards, often referred to simply as Valleys, are an Australian semi-professional rugby league football club based in the Brisbane suburb of Fortitude Valley. History Until their demise in 1995, the Fortitude Valley Dieh ...

against the

Redcliffe Dolphins The Redcliffe Dolphins are a semi-professional rugby league club based in Redcliffe, Queensland, Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia. Founded in 1947, they were accepted into the Brisbane Rugby League premiership (rugby league competition), Brisba ...

Lang Park Lang Park, also known as Brisbane Football Stadium, by the sponsored name Suncorp Stadium, and nicknamed: 'The Cauldron', is a multi-purpose stadium in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Milton. The current facility co ...

in 1980 as a teenager, but it wasn't until 1982 where he became a regular in the Diehards' first-grade line-up. That season, he was seen by Valleys coach

Ross Strudwick Ross Strudwick (born 1950) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. An Australian international, New South Wales and Queensland representative halfback of the 1970s, he played club football in the New South Wales Rugby Footba ...

as a better option at five-eighth than eventual rugby league immortal,

Wally Lewis Walter James Lewis AM (born 1 December 1959) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, and coached in the 1980s and 1990s. He became a commentator for television coverage of the spo ...

, who was forced to play much of the 1982 BRL season in his original position of lock-forward. Duncan's ability to bust the defence with his bulky frame and his undeniable ball skills were noticed by Sydney talent scouts and he was subsequently signed by the

Illawarra Steelers The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...

for the NSWRFL's 1983 Winfield Cup season. Duncan made a couple of appearances in first grade for the Steelers that year but eventually left mid-season, returning to Valleys where he played first and reserve grade. Duncan moved back to Mount Isa in 1984, representing the North Queensland Marlins in the

Winfield State League The Winfield State League was a rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It was administered by the Queensland Rugby League. The competition was the QRL's parallel to the NSWRL's Amco Cup knockout and ran alongside the Brisbane ...

of that season. He was instrumental in helping the Marlins become the first country side to make the finals of that particular competition. They lost to glamour Brisbane club

Wynnum-Manly The Wynnum-Manly Seagulls are an Australian rugby league football club based at Kougari Oval, in Brisbane's bayside suburb of Manly West, which neighbours the suburb of Wynnum. They competed in the Brisbane Rugby League from 1951 to 1997. Since ...

in the semi-final at

(22-0). Duncan headed back to the BRL for the 1985 season where he signed with the

Norths Devils The Northern Suburbs Devils, or North Brisbane Devils, or often simply referred to as Norths for short, are a rugby league club representing the northern suburbs of Brisbane, Australia. The team colours are sky blue, navy blue and gold. They pl ...

. He captained the Devils that season, alternating between five-eighth and second-row. He

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

ed the Devils on and off for the rest of his BRL career which ended in 1993 after nine-straight seasons with Norths. He also played for a short time at London Crusaders ( Heritage No. 231) in England.

Career highlights

Duncan's highlights during his time with Norths included captaining the Devils in the famous 1990 Grand Final loss to Valleys and winning the

Rothmans Medal The Rothmans Medal was the premier individual award in the New South Wales Rugby League and Brisbane Rugby League competitions, and later in the Australian Rugby League, which was given to the player voted by referees as the best and fairest in ...

Award in 1991 for the competition's best and fairest player. He became the second 'Darryl' from Norths to win the medal, following in the footsteps of look alike

Darryl Brohman Darryl Gregory Brohman (born 22 June 1956), also known by the nickname of "The Big Marn", is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1970s and 1980s, and coached in the 1980s, now best known as a commentato ...

. He also made the

4BC 4BC is a radio station in Brisbane, Queensland on 882 kHz AM. 4BC is Brisbane's only commercial talkback station. While the station's broadcasting facility is at Cannon Hill, its transmitting tower is located alongside the Gateway Motorway ...

BRL Team of the 80's. Duncan once kicked a field goal after the siren to give the underdog Devils a shock 23–22 win over the then reigning BRL premiers

in a match at Bishop Park in 1985. He returned to Mount Isa as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for local team Wanderers and in 2009 guided the club to a memorable 28–26 upset victory over Town in the A Grade grand final.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Duncan, Darryl Living people Australian rugby league players Fortitude Valley Diehards players Illawarra Steelers players London Broncos players Norths Devils captains Norths Devils players Rugby league players from Queensland Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people)