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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Daniel Brough | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1983-01-15)15 January 1983 (age 43) Thornhill, West Yorkshire, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 8 lb (80 kg)[1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Scrum-half, Stand-off, Hooker | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Danny Brough (born 15 January 1983) is a Scottish former professionalrugby league footballer who played as astand-off, scrum-half orhooker.
Brough started his professional career in 2002 withDewsbury Rams in the second tier before moving toYork City Knights a year later. Brough made hisSuper League debut in 2005 after signing forHull F.C., winning theChallenge Cup final with the club in the same season. After spending a season withCastleford Tigers in 2007'sNational League One, he returned to the Super League with theWakefield Trinity Wildcats before switching to theHuddersfield Giants in 2010. After a second spell with Wakefield, he finished his career atBradford Bulls in 2021.
Brough also played at international level forEngland andScotland, being eligible to play for the latter through his grandfather, and won a Scottish record 24 caps.
Brough was born inThornhill, West Yorkshire, England.
Brough started his playing career as a junior at Thornhill before signing forWakefield Trinity at the age of 15.[5] He failed to make a first team appearance for the club and moved toDewsbury in theNorthern Ford Premiership, making his senior début in 2002.[6] Seeking more regular first team opportunities, Brough requested a transfer during the 2003 season, and was subsequently sold toNational League Two sideYork City Knights after two seasons at the Dewsbury Rams.[7]
In 2004, Brough set new club records at York for most goals scored in a season (178), and most points scored in a season (412),[8][a] helping the club reach the quarter-final of theChallenge Cup,[6] and narrowly missing out on promotion toNational League One following a 30–34 defeat in the play-off final againstHalifax. After just two seasons he was signed bySuper League sideHull F.C. after making 53 appearances for York.
Brough had a dream start at Hull, scoring four goals and a drop-goal in Hull's2005 Challenge Cup Final win overLeeds Rhinos, with many claiming he was unlucky not to win theLance Todd Trophy. After an impressive first season, he signed a new two-year contract with the club.[10] During the following season, Brough lost his place in the starting lineup after the arrival of new head coachPeter Sharp, and was signed byCastleford Tigers for an undisclosed fee in June 2006.[11]
Brough played 10 games for Castleford in 2006, but was unable to prevent the team from being relegated from the Super League. He remained with Castleford in 2007 and was part of the team that won promotion fromNational League One back into the Super League.
Following Castleford's promotion, Brough was signed by rivals Wakefield Trinity in 2008 and became a key player for the team, going on to win theAlbert Goldthorpe Medal that year. Brough, again only stayed at Wakefield for two seasons before leaving at the end of 2009 to join West Yorkshire rivals Huddersfield. He made 57 appearances for Trinity scoring 468 points.
In March 2010, Brough was signed byHuddersfield Giants for a fee of £30,000, and agreed to loanDanny Kirmond to Wakefield until the end of the season.[12]
He was named club captain during 2012 following the mid-season departure ofKevin Brown.[13][14]
At the end of the 2013 Super League season, Brough won theMan of Steel award for his excellent performances throughout the season. He also became the first player ever to win a secondAlbert Goldthorpe Medal.[15]
Brough returned to Wakefield in 2019.
He left at the end of the 2020 season.
In June 2020, it was announced that Brough would link up with former coachJohn Kear on a 2-year deal in theRFL Championship with theBradford Bulls.[16] Brough announced his retirement in November 2021.[17]
Brough played at international level forScotland, qualifying via his grandfather, making his international début in 2004 and playing in sporadic competitions and test matches.
In 2008 he was called up to the Scotland squad for the2008 Rugby League World Cup, and was named captain for the first time. Brough's international future was thrown into question following the World Cup, as he announced his intention to switch allegiance toEngland in 2009, citing a lack of opportunities to play in major tournaments with Scotland.[18] However, Brough was not selected for England, and did not feature at international level for two years.
In 2013, Brough reverted to Scotland and captained the team during the2013 World Cup. After the tournament, Brough was shortlisted alongsideSonny Bill Williams andGreg Inglis for theRLIF International Player of the Year.[19]
In October 2014, Brough led Scotland in the2014 European Cup.[20] The Winner of the tournament would qualify to play in the2016 Four Nations alongside International heavyweights Australia, England and New Zealand. He played at his best throughout the tournament, earning him the 'Player of the Tournament' award.[21] His performances and leadership inspired the team to qualify for 2016's major international rugby league competition and win theEuropean Cup for the first ever time. Later in the year, his performances made him the clear winner for the 'Prince of Scots' award as the best player to play in the Bravehearts' jersey that year.[22]
Again in October and November 2015, Brough decided to play for Scotland instead of taking a long off-season break and was therefore named as the captain of the Bravehearts in their2015 European Cup campaign.[23]
Five months before the 2016 Four Nations, Scotland announced Brough would captain the Bravehearts in their first tournament (other than the World Cup) against the 'big 3' international teams.[24]
In 2017 Brough captained Scotland's squad in the2017 Rugby League World Cup. He played in the matches against Tonga and New Zealand, but was then released from the squad and sent home before their final group match, after being deemed too drunk to board a flight in Christchurch.
Brough was eventually called into the England squad for anInternational Origin match in 2012. He was subsequently omitted once again from the England squad, and, amid heavy speculation, in 2013 announced that he would once again be committing to Scotland, having not featured for England once.[25]
With a combined total of 3,987 points at club and representative level, Brough is the fifth highest points scorer in British rugby league history (behindNeil Fox,Jim Sullivan,Kevin Sinfield andGus Risman).[26]
| Team | Appearances | Tries | Goals | Drop goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dewsbury Rams | 37 | 4 | 33 | 5 | 87 |
| York City Knights | 53 | 20 | 265 | 6 | 616 |
| Hull | 43 | 3 | 95 | 2 | 204 |
| Castleford Tigers | 35 | 12 | 153 | 4 | 358 |
| Wakefield Trinity | 83 | 21 | 280 | 10 | 654 |
| Huddersfield Giants | 247 | 51 | 793 | 25 | 1,815 |
| Bradford Bulls | 13 | 2 | 48 | 5 | 109 |
| Club total | 511 | 113 | 1,667 | 57 | 3,843 |
| Scotland | 24 | 4 | 58 | 2 | 134 |
| England (v Exiles) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| National League under-21s | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 |
| Representative total | 26 | 4 | 63 | 2 | 144 |
| Career total | 537 | 117 | 1,730 | 59 | 3,987 |
Hull
Huddersfield
Individual