Darius Boyd

Darius Boyd (born 17 July 1987) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played, , and for the Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League (NRL) and has played for Australia at international level and State of Origin for Queensland.

Boyd was born at the Gold Coast Hospital, in Queensland, Australia on 17 July 1987.

He was raised by his single mother throughout most of his childhood.

He began playing junior football at a young age for the Parkwood Sharks, which led to playing at halftime during a Gold Coast Seagulls match in 1993.

He later switched clubs to the Mudgeeraba Redbacks.

Boyd attended Robina State High School during this time but switched schools to the famed rugby league nursery, Palm Beach Currumbin High School, in Year 10.

It was at this point Boyd's mother became ill and he started living with his grandmother, as well as spending periods of time living with football friends' families.

Following graduation in 2004, he was not recruited by any NRL teams and decided to repeat Year 12 at PBC in the hope of garnering attention from NRL teams.

In 2005, while playing for Palm Beach Currumbin, Boyd was selected at fullback for the Australian Schoolboys team.

He then debuted for the Burleigh Bears in the Queensland Cup.

After playing for Burleigh, Boyd was signed by the Brisbane Broncos.

He later said, "I was a bit scared of leaving home as an 18-year-old but Brisbane was always my favourite club since I was a little fella. I had to move into the Broncos' house and was a pretty shy, quiet kid so didn't want to leave the family and different things but after a week or two they made me feel welcome."

In round 1, Boyd made his NRL debut for the Broncos, against the North Queensland Cowboys, scoring a try on debut in the Broncos 36–4 loss at Suncorp Stadium.

Playing on the wing for the majority of the season, Boyd got a chance at his preferred position of fullback for a number of games after the regular fullback, Karmichael Hunt, went down with injuries.

At the end of the regular season, Boyd won the Broncos' Rookie of the Year award.

Boyd has won the 2006 NRL Grand Final with the Broncos and the 2010 NRL Grand Final with the Dragons.

He is a Queensland State of Origin and Prime Minister's XIII representative.

The decision turned out to be a fruitful one with the Brisbane Broncos offering Boyd a scholarship, followed by a $20,000 contract for the 2006 NRL season.

Boyd played on the wing for the Broncos in their 2006 NRL Grand Final 15–8 win over the Melbourne Storm.

Boyd played in 27 matches and scored 11 tries in an impressive debut year in the NRL.

As 2006 NRL Premiers, the Brisbane Broncos travelled to England to face 2006 Super League champions, St Helens R.F.C., in the 2007 World Club Challenge.

Boyd scored a try in the Broncos' 18–14 loss.

Boyd finished the 2007 NRL season with him playing in 22 matches and scoring 7 tries.

In Round 1 against the Penrith Panthers, Boyd scored a hat-trick in the Broncos 48–12 win at Suncorp Stadium.

In May 2008, Boyd started to receive attention from other clubs as he was off-contract at the end of the year.

There was speculation that he would move to the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, alongside fellow Broncos Michael Ennis and Ben Hannant, or possibly the St. George Illawarra Dragons, following his coach at Brisbane, Wayne Bennett.

After leading the NRL try-scoring table for most of the first half of the season, Boyd was selected for the Queensland team to play New South Wales in Game 2 of the 2008 State of Origin series due to teammate Justin Hodges suspension.

Boyd scored 2 tries on debut, both from passes from centre Greg Inglis, with Queensland winning 30–0 at Suncorp Stadium Boyd also played in Game 3 as the Maroons won 16–10 at ANZ Stadium and won the series 2–1.

On 20 August 2008, Boyd signed a 3-year contract with the Dragons starting in 2009, following teammate Nick Emmett and coach Wayne Bennett.

Boyd finished the 2008 NRL season with him playing in 24 matches and scoring 13 tries.

On 16 October 2008, Boyd was called up to the Australian 2008 World Cup squad due to teammate Justin Hodges being ruled out with a shoulder injury.

On 9 November 2008, Boyd made his international debut for Australia against Papua New Guinea, playing on the wing in the 46–6 win at 1300SMILES Stadium.

Boyd only played in 1 match in the World Cup tournament.

Boyd previously played for the St. George Illawarra Dragons in 2009–2011 and the Newcastle Knights in 2012–2014 all under coach Wayne Bennett before switching back to Broncos in 2015.

Boyd was questioned by police in 2009 relating to an alleged sexual assault in a Brisbane nightclub.

In Round 1 of the 2009 NRL season, Boyd made his club debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons against the Melbourne Storm, playing at fullback in the 17–16 loss at Olympic Park.

In Round 4, he travelled to Brisbane for his and Wayne Bennett's first match against their old club, which the Dragons won 25–12, ending the Broncos unbeaten start to the season.

On 8 May, Boyd played for Australia in the Anzac Test, playing on the wing and scoring a try in the 38–10.

Boyd was selected in the Queensland squad for the 2009 State of Origin series, playing in all 3 matches and scoring 1 try in the record-breaking 4th consecutive series win.

Boyd captained the Brisbane Broncos from 2017 to 2019.