Phil Clarke

For other people of the same name, see Phil Clark (disambiguation).
Phil Clarke
Clarke in 2009
Personal information
Full name Philip Clarke
Born Blackrod, Bolton, England
Playing information
Position Stand-off/Five-eighth, Second-row, Loose forward/Lock
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1988–95 Wigan 154 23 0 0 92
1995–96 Sydney City Roosters 12 2 0 0 8
Total 166 25 0 0 100
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
1989–94 Great Britain 16 4 0 0 16
1995 England 6 1 0 0 4
Source: [1][2]

Phil Clarke is an English rugby league football commentator and former professional player of the 1980s and 90s. A Great Britain and England international representative loose forward, he spent his club career with Wigan, as well as a stint in Australia with the Sydney Roosters.

Phil Clarke is the son of the Great Britain, and Wigan, Hooker of the 1960s and '70s, and the Wigan coach of the 1980s, Colin Clarke. During the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season, he played for defending champions Wigan at loose forward in their 1991 World Club Challenge victory against the visiting Penrith Panthers. Clarke was selected to go on the 1992 Great Britain Lions tour of Australia and New Zealand. he played at loose forward in Great Britain's win over Australia in Melbourne.

During the 1992–93 Rugby Football League season Clarke played at loose firward for defending RFL champions Wigan in the 1992 World Club Challenge against the visiting Brisbane Broncos. After the 1993–94 Rugby Football League season Clarke travelled with defending champions Wigan to Brisbane, playing at loose forward in their 1994 World Club Challenge victory over Australian premiers, the Brisbane Broncos. Phil Clarke represented England at the 1995 Rugby League World Cup. He became the first player to win England caps whilst at the Sydney City Roosters. Adrian Morley later became the first player to win Great Britain caps whilst at the Sydney Roosters. Clarke's playing career was cut short when he suffered a broken neck in his only season with Sydney. Although he made a full recovery, he was warned by doctors never to play Rugby League again.

Phil Clarke is now a Sky Sports Rugby League pundit. He began working with Sky television in 1999 alongside Bill Arthur on Academy matches but nowadays he can be seen working with Eddie Hemmings and Mike "Stevo" Stephenson on Sky Sports Super League broadcasts and is respected for his in depth analysis of games and regularly "knocks sense" into colleague Mike Stephenson.

In March 2006 he quit his job as Great Britain team manager after five years, having become part of the GB set-up in 2001.[3] His reasons for leaving were the "lack of leadership and direction" for the Great Britain team, and the lack of improvement in competitiveness against international opponents; adding that "Despite what's been said by the RFL and certain parts of the media, we're no closer now than we were 15 years ago."

References

  1. ^ Rugby League Project
  2. ^ Phil Clarke, Englandrl.co.uk, retrieved 2011-01-01
  3. ^ "No-one cares about Lions - Clarke", BBC, 23 March 2006, retrieved 2011-01-01

External links