Darrell Christopher Williams is a New Zealand rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 selector and NRL judiciary member and a former footballer and coach.

Playing career

A New Zealand international representative outside back, Williams started his playing career in the Auckland Rugby League

Auckland Rugby League

The Auckland Rugby League is the governing body for the sport of rugby league in the Auckland Region of New Zealand. It is responsible for rugby league in the region and was the owner of Carlaw Park, once the "spiritual home of rugby league in New Zealand".-History:The Auckland Rugby League was...

 competition where he played with the Mt Albert club

Mt Albert Lions

The Mount Albert Lions are a rugby league club based in Mount Albert, New Zealand. The Lions home ground is at Fowlds Park. Their patron is the former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark. In 2008 and 2009 the Lions won the Fox Memorial....

. During this time he gained selection for New Zealand and in a test against Australia was on the receiving end of a famous hit from Australian skipper Wally Lewis

Wally Lewis

Walter James "Wally" Lewis AM is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and coach. Currently a commentator of the sport, he is widely regarded as the greatest rugby league player of all time...

. This tackle was later described by commentator Ray Warren

Ray Warren

Ray "Rabbits" Warren in Junee, New South Wales is an Australian sports commentator, most famous for his coverage of televised professional rugby league matches on the Nine Network. On occasion he is referred to as "The Voice of Rugby League". Ray also calls the action for Australian swimming team...

 as easily the biggest he's ever seen. Williams later moved to Australia to play in the NSWRL premiership for the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles

The Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based on the Northern Beaches of Sydney. They compete in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership, the premier rugby league competition of Australasia...

. He played in the centres for the Sea Eagles' in the 1987 premiership final, and in doing so became the first Kiwi to play in an Australian grand final

Grand Final

Grand Final is a predominantly Australian sport term used to describe a match that decides a league champion.It originated in Victoria and South Australia and has become specifically significant Australian culture...

-winning team. Following the grand final victory he travelled with Manly to England for the 1987 World Club Challenge

1987 World Club Challenge

The 1987 World Club Challenge was only the second game of its kind to be played between Britain's and Australia's respective domestic rugby league champions...

 against their champions, Wigan

Wigan Warriors

Wigan Warriors is an English rugby league club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester. The club's first team squad competes in the engage Super League and the team are the current Challenge Cup holders as of the 27th August 2011....

. After several seasons with the club he was dropped in 1993, joining the Parramatta Eels

Parramatta Eels

The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, with their First Grade side playing their first season in the New South Wales Rugby Football League...

 for one more season in 1994.

Later years

In the 1990s Williams was appointed a National Rugby League

National Rugby League

The National Rugby League is the top league of professional rugby league football clubs in Australasia. The NRL's main competition, called the Telstra Premiership , is contested by sixteen teams, fifteen of which are based in Australia with one based in New Zealand...

 judiciary member. He was later appointed coach of the Samoan rugby league team for their 2000 World Cup

2000 Rugby League World Cup

The 2000 Rugby League World Cup was the twelfth staging of the Rugby League World Cup and was held during October and November of that year in Great Britain, Ireland and France...

 campaign. Samoa reached the quarter finals where they faced eventual champions Australia and were knocked out. Williams has also been a selector for the New Zealand national side. During the lead up to the 2008 NRL grand final Williams, at the time the longest-serving member of the NRL judiciary, threatened legal action against the Melbourne Storm

Melbourne Storm

The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....

 for criticism leveled at the judiciary over their controversial suspension of Storm captain Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith

Cameron Smith is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently captains the Melbourne Storm of the National Rugby League...

. This led to Storm coach Craig Bellamy and then-CEO Brian Waldron paying out $105,000 plus legal costs to Williams and the other judiciary panellists in late 2010.