Darryl van der Velde

Who is Darryl van der Velde?

Darryl van der Velde is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, coach and administrator. He played club football in Queensland for Souths and represented his state on one occasion in 1977. After playing he coached the Brisbane Rugby League premiership's Redcliffe side in 1986 and 1987, taking his club to consecutive grand finals. He was then replaced by Graham Olling.

Van de Velde was part of an unsuccessful syndicate to form the first New South Wales Rugby League premiership club in Queensland. He then embarked on a coaching career in England with Castleford in 1988, taking them to the 1991–92 Rugby Football League season's Challenge Cup final before leaving in 1993. He moved to coach London Crusaders in 1993. Van de Velde then became the Chief Executive Officer of the new South Queensland Crushers club of the ARL premership. He later coached Huddersfield and then joined Warrington Wolves in March 1997, spending five years at the club, but he failed to win a trophy before leaving in 2001. He has since returned to Australia.