Former hooker Jon Clarke of the Wigan Warriors, Warrington Wolves, and Widnes Vikings has rejoined the NRL team Manly Sea Eagles.
In addition to his impressive playing career, Clarke joined the Sea Eagles as Head of Performance.
In the English Super League, the cunning hooker appeared in 355 games for Wigan, the London Broncos, Warrington Wolves, and Widnes. With Wigan, he was the 1997 Premiership winner.
In addition, he represented Great Britain in two Test matches and led Warrington to victory in the 2010 Challenge Cup.
Following his retirement, Clarke worked as a strength and conditioning coach at Widnes. He later returned to Warrington as Head of Performance and joined England Rugby for the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa in 2021 as well as the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
At Wigan, Clarke personally met current chief executive Tony Maestrov, and at the London Broncos, he met head coach Anthony Seibold.
When I was seventeen or eighteen, Tony came to Wigan in 1998. He was a fantastic addition to Wigan’s front row. It was under Coach John Monie that he played so well.
“When I moved to Manly, there was already a connection there because we both later joined the London Broncos. That was my first encounter with “Seibs” at the London Broncos. There, we spent a year. He was in the front row. After a few years apart, we crossed paths again when “Seibs” began working for England Rugby, where I had been living.
We gave union a shot and fell in love with a different sport. Then, “Seibs” was appointed Manly’s head coach for 2023. We had a brief conversation about my visit. It has always been my goal to try my hand at the NRL. As a player, I never had the opportunity, so this was a fantastic chance.
