Erin Clark (born 6 September 1997) is a New Zealand international and Samoa international

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 or for the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

in the

National Rugby League The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...

(NRL). Clark previously played for the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

in the NRL.

Background

Born in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

, New Zealand, Clark is of

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

and Samoan descent. Clark is the son of New Zealand

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

great Temepara Bailey and Wayne Clark.

Playing career

Clark played his junior football for the Otahuhu Leopards,

Manurewa Marlins The Manurewa Marlins are a rugby league club based in Manurewa, New Zealand. In 2018 the Marlins will compete in Auckland Rugby League's Sharman Cup competition. Between 2000 and 2003 they competed in the national Bartercard Cup competition. ...

and

Point Chevalier Pirates The Point Chevalier Pirates are a New Zealand rugby league club based in Point Chevalier. The Pirates currently compete in the Fox Memorial (First Division) competition run by the Auckland Rugby League. History The club was founded in 1919 Au ...

, and attended

Manurewa High School Manurewa High School is a secondary school in Manurewa, South Auckland, New Zealand. It is a large multi-cultural school, with an enrolment of over 2,300 students. History Manurewa High School was opened on 2 February 1960. Prior to this, stude ...

before being signed by the

. Clark represented the New Zealand Residents 18s and the New Zealand Secondary Schools in 2014. In 2014, Clark won the major rugby league accolade at the 2014 ASB Young Sportsperson of the Year Awards. In 2015, Clark was the only player in the Junior Warriors’ squad to appear in all 27 matches in the season. On 7 May 2016, Clark played for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

against

Tonga Tonga, officially the Kingdom of Tonga, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania. The country has 171 islands, of which 45 are inhabited. Its total surface area is about , scattered over in the southern Pacific Ocean. accordin ...

in the 2016

Polynesian Cup The Polynesian Cup is a rugby league football test match played between Samoa and Tonga first played in 2010. The matches in 2015, 2016 and 2018 were played as double-headers with the Melanesian Cup. Results See also *Polynesia Cup – sim ...

, where he played off the interchange bench in the 18-6 win at

Parramatta Stadium Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, west of Sydney CBD. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure the most notable were the Parramatta E ...

. Later in the year he represented Samoa in a test match against Fiji in Apia, playing off the interchange bench in their 18-20 loss. Clark made his first grade debut for the Warriors during the

2017 NRL season The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

against

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

. He played for the

Junior Kiwis The Junior Kiwis side represents New Zealand in the sport of rugby league. They are commonly known as the Junior Kiwis, after the native bird of that name. Since 2010, they are an under-20s side, with players selected from the NRL, Intrust Sup ...

on 5 May. On 9 June 2017, he was granted a release from the

and joined the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

. On 24 November 2017, Clark requested a release from his Canberra contract and returned to New Zealand. On 5 November 2019, Clark returned to rugby league, joining the Gold Coast on a train and trial deal. On 10 January 2020, he signed a two-year deal with club.

2021

Clark played 19 games for the Gold Coast in the

2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...

including the club's elimination final loss against the

Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...

2022

Clark played a total of 21 games for the club in the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

as the Gold Coast finished 13th on the table.

2023

Clark played a total of 20 matches for the Gold Coast in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

as the club finished 14th on the table.

2024

Clark played a total of 24 matches in the 2024 NRL season, as the club had finished 13th on the table. It was announced on 9 September 2024 that Clark had signed a 3 year deal to return to the NZ Warriors. Clark made his debut from the bench for the Kiwis against

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

, in a 54–12 win.

Statistics

*denotes season competing

References

External links

Gold Coast Titans profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Erin 1997 births Living people Gold Coast Titans players Junior Kiwis players Manurewa Marlins players New Zealand Māori rugby league players New Zealand Māori rugby league team players New Zealand sportspeople of Samoan descent New Zealand rugby league players New Zealand Warriors players Point Chevalier Pirates players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league hookers Rugby league players from Auckland Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan rugby league players