DARYL CLARK enjoyed a St Helens debut to remember with a try-scoring, man-of-the-match performance on Friday night.
The hooker scored one try and set up another of the eight scored by Saints in a dominant opening victory over promoted London.
His first appearance for Saints was a long time coming for England international Clark, seven months after committing to join from Warrington: “I’ve been excited about it for a while,” he said.
“I just wanted to hit the ground running and have a solid first performance, and I feel like I did that. It wasn’t perfect but I’m happy with it.”
Clark played for 73 minutes in the absence of fellow hooker Moses Mbye through a knee injury.
“Mo is normally going to be there; we had Wingy (Jake Wingfield) but I did him a favour by staying on a bit longer because I don’t think he was too keen on it,” joked Clark.
“Hopefully Mo will be back in a couple of weeks and I can drop my minutes.
“It’s a long season, we play a lot of games and you don’t want to be doing it every game, but I’m sure there will be times throughout the year when I can (play 80 minutes).
“Obviously we’ve got a big squad of quality players so I think the smart thing to do will be to share it about. But I’ll take what comes.”
Saints coach Paul Wellens hailed an “excellent” Clark performance, on what was his 300th Super League appearance, and believes his direct style could thrive this season.
“The way the game is changing, there’s a real emphasis on cleaning up the ruck, and that brings running nines into the game,” said Wellens.
“In Daryl and Moses we’ve got two nines who like to get out and challenge the defensive line and we encourage them to do that.”
Wellens was also delighted for fellow debutant Matt Whitley, who scored two tries on his return to the club he supported as a boy.
“I love players who play to their strengths. He’s not the biggest backrower but that works to his advantage, his subtle runs trouble teams,” added the coach, who last week saw his centre Mark Percival extend his contract to 2026.
“They’re already singing his name on the terraces, and that’s every Saints fan’s dream.”