Derrell Olpherts (born 7 January 1992) 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 as a er, or for

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 ...

in the

RFL Championship The Rugby Football League Championship, (known as the Betfred Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the second highest division of rugby league in British rugby league system, Britain (with one team in the league also being based in France) ...

. He has previously played for 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

Castleford Tigers The Castleford Tigers are a professional rugby league club in Castleford, West Yorkshire, England. They play their home games at Wheldon Road (currently known as the Mend-A-Hose Jungle for sponsorship reasons) and compete in the Super League, t ...

and 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 ...

in the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

, the

Dewsbury Rams The Dewsbury Rams are a professional rugby league club based in Dewsbury, West Yorkshire, England that compete in RFL League 1, League One, the third tier of British rugby league system, British rugby league. History 1875–1887: Dewsbury Athl ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, and the

Hemel Stags The Hemel Stags are an amateur rugby league club based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire. They were semi-professional and played in Betfred League 1 from 2013 until 2018. They withdrew from the professional system when their licence was purch ...

and

Newcastle Thunder The Newcastle Thunder is a professional rugby league club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was founded in 2000 as Gateshead Thunder, after the merger of the original Gateshead Thunder into Hull F.C. in 1999. The Thunder were based in ...

in League 1.

Background

Olpherts was born in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

, England.

Career

Dewsbury Rams

Olpherts made his professional début on 19 February 2012 for

Dewsbury Dewsbury is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Calder, West Yorkshire, River Calder and on an arm of the Calder and Hebble Navigation waterway. It is to the west of Wakefield, ...

in a cup tie against

Featherstone Featherstone is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the City of Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, two miles south-west of Pontefract. Historic counties of England, Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, in 2011 ...

Hemel Stags

Olpherts played for the

in the Kingstone Press League 1 in 2015, making 22 appearances and scoring 7 tries as a fullback.

Newcastle Thunder

Olpherts represented the

in League 1 between 2016 and 2017. He was utilised as a centre or fullback and scored 30 tries in 41 appearances.

Salford Red Devils

Olpherts joined the

for the 2018 season. He made his

début for

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, ...

against

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom censuses, 2021 census had a population of 62,400. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, ...

Castleford Tigers

In July 2019, Olpherts signed a three-year contract with

to start from the 2020 season. Head coach

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 Super League. He played as a in the 1980s, 1990s and 2000s for t ...

said of him: "Derrell has been a standout winger in Super League this season. His ability to break tackles and make the game quick is outstanding." Olpherts made his Castleford début on 2 February 2020 against the

Toronto Wolfpack Toronto Wolfpack RLFC is a Canadian professional rugby league club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club is the first and only professional rugby league club in North America, and as of 2023 competes in the self sponsored Canada Cup, an invitation ...

. He scored his first try for the club on 7 February against

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its ad ...

. He finished the 2020 season as Castleford's joint-highest tryscorer alongside Greg Eden. On 17 July 2021, Olpherts played for Castleford in their

2021 Challenge Cup Final The 2021 Challenge Cup Final was the 120th final of the Rugby Football League's Challenge Cup knock-out competition. It took place on 17 July 2021 at Wembley Stadium between Castleford Tigers and St Helens. Background The 2021 Challenge Cup ...

loss against St Helens. In round 20 of the

2022 Super League season Super League XXVII, known as the 2022 Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, was the 27th season of the Super League and 128th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The season commenced on 10 February 2022 and ended with the Grand Fina ...

, Olpherts scored four tries and was named Man of the Match against

Hull FC Hull Football Club, commonly referred to as Hull or Hull F.C., is a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. Hull play their home games at the MKM Stadium and compete in Super League, the t ...

, marking his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

for Castleford. On 26 August 2022, Castleford confirmed that Olpherts would leave the club at the end of the season upon the expiry of his contract.

Leeds Rhinos

On 20 October 2022, Olpherts signed a two-year contract with the

to start from the 2023 season. Olpherts played 13 games for Leeds in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished 8th on the table and missed the playoffs.

Wakefield Trinity

On 12 March 2024, it was reported that he had signed for

Wakefield Trinity 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 (Wakefield), Belle Vue and currently compete in the Super League, the top tier o ...

in the

. In his first season at the club, he scored 27 tries in 28 matches. Wakefield would win three trophies in 2024, the 1895 cup, the league leaders shield and the RFL Championship defeating Toulouse Olympique in the grand final.

Featherstone Rovers

On 16 November 2024, it was reported that he had signed for

in the

on a one-year deal.

Statistics

References

External links

Castleford Tigers profileSalford Red Devils profile

SL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olpherts, Derrell 1992 births Living people Castleford Tigers players Dewsbury Rams players Featherstone Rovers players Hemel Stags players Leeds Rhinos players Newcastle Thunder players 21st-century English sportsmen Rugby league centres Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wakefield Rugby league wingers Salford Red Devils players Wakefield Trinity players