Throughout his seventeen-year playing career, Lockyer set appearance records for his country, state, and club. As well, he was never suspended or accused by the NRL judiciary systems during his whole career.
Darren Lockyer is a native of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, born on 24th of March 1977. His star sign is Aries. By nationality, he is an Australian.
His father, David Lockyer, has played Australian Rules football for decades in Brisbane with Morningside whereas his mother, Sharon Lockyer, is a housemaker. Following his father footstep, Lockyer began the game at the tender age of four.
After two years, Darren began playing Aussie rules for Springwood, concluding runner-up in the best and fairest award in his first season. In the 1984 season, he won the club’s best and fairest award by seventeen votes.
Later his family relocated to the small country town of Wandom and due to a lack of Australian Rules football clubs around there, Darren quite the game and switched to rugby league. He played four years for school and club in Wandoan.
Then, he moved to Roma and began playing for the Cities Gladiators. At his fifteen, Lockyer made his first-grade debut and played fullback for his Roma club. Following his impressive performance at the carnival, he was offered by Brisbane Broncos coach Wayne Bennett to join the club. Soon he accepted a $2k scholarship.
Also, he worked as a bartender at the Broncos Leagues Club to make ends meet. In 1997, Lockyer signed to Broncos professionally.
The significant source of Darren Lockyer income is his professional rugby league television commentator career. As of 2018, Darren Lockyer has not revealed his exact figure of net worth and salary, however, looking at his successful career, his net worth is assumed to be no less than a seven-digit figure,
In the 1995 ARL season, Darren Lockyer made his professional first-grade debut representing the Brisbane Broncos from the bench as an 18-years-old 5-8 in a 60-14 thrashing of the Parramatta Eels in Round 13. In the following ARL season, he played mostly as the interchange bench.
At the start of the 1997 Super League season, Lockyer was switched permanently to the fullback position by Coach Wayne Bennett, replacing Willie Carne. He first earned representative honors for Queensland that season in the 2nd Super Leagues Tri-series match against New South Wales.
At the end of the season, he made his international debut after he was selected to play at fullback for his national side, Australian national team in all three games of the Super League Test series against Great Britain in England.
In the following season, he was selected as the Queensland team’s fullback and goal-kicker for all3 matches of their prosperous States of Origin series, in which, Lockyer was the top point-scorer. The same year, he also made his debut for the Australian team against New Zealand, becoming Kangaroo No.661.
In the year 1999, his goal-kicking duties at the Broncos were shifted to teammates Michael De Vere and Ben Walker. Further, replaced Robbie O’Davis as a Queensland’s fullback in Game III of the State of Origin series, recording a try and kicking a goal in the 10-10 draw which was enough to see the Maroons retain the shield.
In the final of the post-season 1999 Tri-nations tournament, Lockyer was sin-binned in the Kangaroos’ victory against Kiwis and also did goal-kicking for Australia.
He played all three games of the 2000 State of Origin series at full playback.
In 2003, Lockyer won his first ever “Rugby League World Golden Boot Award” for the world’s best international rugby league player that year.
In 2004, Lockyer was moved to fullback after the spot was left vacant by the retirement of Ben Ikin and his fullback position he vacated was taken by Carmichael Hunt, for the 2004 Brisbane Broncos season.
At the beginning of the 2004 NRL season, he received some negative media attention following his careless joke about the Bulldog’s gang rape allegation at a Queensland sports function. But he promptly apologized for the comment.
With the retirement of Gorden Tallis at the end of the 2004 season, Lockyer captained Queensland in 2005.
Following a poor start to the 2006 Brisbane Broncos season, Lockyer was criticized that he should either return to fullback or lose his spot on both the Queensland and the Australian team. Nonetheless, the critics eased off when Lockyer scored two tries in Australia’s 50-12 loss of New Zealand in the ANZAC Test.
His performance in the five-eighth position boosted significantly in the weeks leading up to the 2006 States of Origin series, resulting in captain for Game I and selection as five-eighth. In the same season, he was the recipient for the Golden Boot Award for the second time.
In the 2007 season, Broncos lost the World Club Challenge to St, Helens under Lockyer.
The following season, he was named in the Preliminary 46-man Kangaroos team for the 2008 World Cup in August, and one month later, he was picked in the final 24-man Australia team.
On 8th May 2009, Lockyer was selected for his national side to play in the one-off teats match against New Zealand. In the Four Nations tournaments, he captained Australia to win and also broke records for most-capped Australian player as well as the most game for his national side as captain.
Lockyer concluded his career is captaining Australia to win in the 2011 Four Nations. He played his career final game at Elland Road against England, which was the Four Nations final.
Lockyer was listed in Australia’s “100 Greatest Player” by the NRL and ARL to celebrate the code’s centenary year in Australia, in February of 2008. Later four months, he was selected in the “Queensland Rugby League’s Team of the Century at fullback.
In 2011, Queensland State Government decided to sculpt a life-size bronze statue of Lockyer in honor of his achievement in Queensland Rugby League, which since 2012 has been standing next to “the King,” Wally Lewis outside Lang Park.
Darren Lockyer, 41, is a happily married man. He tied the knot with his girlfriend of three years, Loren Pollock, on 27th of October 2007. The couple shares three boys together: Hugo David, Sunny, and Flynn.
Lockyer seems to be much secretive when it comes to his personal life. Though he actively surfs social sites including Instagram and Twitter, Lockyer has shared hardly any picture with his wife and children.
