Derrell Olpherts

Derrell Olpherts (born 7 January 1992) is an English professional rugby league footballer who plays as a winger, fullback or centre for the Wakefield Trinity in the RFL Championship.

Derrell Olpherts

Personal information
Born	(1992-01-07) 7 January 1992 (age 32) Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England
Height	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)
Weight	15 st 6 lb (98 kg)^[1]
Playing information
Position	Wing, Fullback, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2012 Dewsbury Rams 4 1 0 0 4 2015 Hemel Stags 22 7 0 0 28 2016–17 Newcastle Thunder 41 30 0 0 120 2018–19 Salford Red Devils 42 16 0 0 64 2020–22 Castleford Tigers 65 36 0 0 144 2023–24 Leeds Rhinos 14 4 0 0 16 2024– Wakefield Trinity 0 0 0 0 0 Total 188 94 0 0 376
Source: ^[2]^[3]^[4] As of 12 March 2024

He has previously played for the Dewsbury Rams in the Championship, the Hemel Stags and the Newcastle Thunder in League 1, and the Salford Red Devils in the Super League.

Background

Olpherts was born in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England.

Career

Dewsbury Rams

Olpherts made his professional début on 19 February 2012 for Dewsbury in a cup tie against Featherstone.^[5]

Hemel Stags

Olpherts played for the Hemel Stags in the Kingstone Press League 1 in 2015, making 22 appearances and scoring 7 tries as a fullback.^[2]

Newcastle Thunder

Olpherts represented the Newcastle Thunder in League 1 between 2016 and 2017. He was utilised as a centre or fullback and scored 30 tries in 41 appearances.^[2]

Salford Red Devils

Olpherts joined the Salford Red Devils for the 2018 season.^[6] He made his Super League début for Salford against Widnes.^[7]

Castleford Tigers

In July 2019, Olpherts signed a three-year contract with Castleford Tigers to start from the 2020 season.^[8][9] Head coach Daryl Powell 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."^[8]

Olpherts made his Castleford début on 2 February 2020 against the Toronto Wolfpack.^[10] He scored his first try for the club on 7 February against Wigan.^[11] 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 loss against St Helens.^[12]

In round 20 of the 2022 Super League season, Olpherts scored four tries and was named Man of the Match against Hull FC, marking his first hat-trick for Castleford.^[13][14]

On 26 August 2022, Castleford confirmed that Olpherts would leave the club at the end of the season upon the expiry of his contract.^[15][16]

Leeds Rhinos

On 20 October 2022, Olpherts signed a two-year contract with the Leeds Rhinos to start from the 2023 season.^[17] Olpherts played 13 games for Leeds in the 2023 Super League season as the club finished 8th on the table and missed the playoffs.^[18]

Wakefield Trinity

On 12 Mar 2024 it was reported that he had signed for Wakefield Trinity in the RFL Championship^[19]

Statistics

Season	Team	App	T	G	DG	Pts
2012	Dewsbury Rams	4	1	0	0	4
2015	Hemel Stags	22	7	0	0	28
2016	Newcastle Thunder	17	13	0	0	52
2017	Newcastle Thunder	24	17	0	0	68
2018	Salford Red Devils	19	7	0	0	28
2019	Salford Red Devils	23	9	0	0	36
2020	Castleford Tigers	15	8	0	0	32
2021	Castleford Tigers	24	10	0	0	40
2022	Castleford Tigers	26	18	0	0	72
Totals		174	90	0	0	360

(* denotes season still competing)

References

1. "Derrell Olpherts Biography". Castleford Tigers. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
2. "Player Summary: Derrell Olpherts". Rugby League Records. Rugby League Record Keepers Club. Retrieved 1 May 2024.
3. loverugbyleague
4. Rugby League Project
5. "Spicer is big loss for Rams". Dewsbury Reporter. 24 February 2012. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
6. "Derrell Olpherts: Newcastle Thunder back to join Salford Red Devils". BBC Sport. 3 July 2017. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
7. "Salford Red Devils' Derrell Olpherts set to make debut". Sky Sports. 22 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
8. "Derrell Olpherts: Castleford sign Salford Red Devils winger on three-year deal". BBC Sport. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
9. Smith, Peter (2 July 2019). . Yorkshire Evening Post. Archived from the original on 3 July 2019. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
10. Hafez, Shamoon (2 February 2020). "Super League: Toronto Wolfpack 10-28 Castleford Tigers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
11. "Super League: Castleford Tigers 16-12 Wigan Warriors - Olpherts sets up win with first Tigers try". BBC Sport. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
12. "Challenge Cup: St Helens beat Castleford 26-12 for first Wembley victory since 2008". BBC Sport. 17 July 2021. Retrieved 18 July 2021.
13. "Super League: Derrell Olpherts stars as ruthless Castleford Tigers stun Hull FC 46-18". Sky Sports. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
14. "Super League: Hull FC 18-46 Castleford - Lee Radford's Tigers come from behind to win". BBC Sport. 22 July 2022. Retrieved 23 July 2022.
15. "Tigers departing club at end of 2022". Castleford Tigers. 26 August 2022. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
16. Darbyshire, Drew (26 August 2022). "Castleford confirm six departures at the end of the season". Love Rugby League. Retrieved 11 October 2022.
17. "Derrell Olpherts: Leeds Rhinos sign Castleford Tigers outside back on two-year deal". BBC Sport. 20 October 2022. Retrieved 22 October 2022.
18. "Leeds Rhinos' 2023 season review: picking out the best and worst players, performances, results". www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk.
19. Ben Olawumi (12 March 2024). "Out of favour Leeds Rhinos winger Derrell Olpherts makes permanent Championship move". Love Rugby League.

External links

• Castleford Tigers profile
• Salford Red Devils profile 23 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine
• SL profile