A Toa Samoa international as a teenager before making his NRL debut with the Warriors, hooker-turned-middle forward Erin Clark received Kiwis squad call-ups for a 2022 mid-season Test and the 2024 Pacific Championships from the Gold Coast Titans.
The Manurewa Marlins and Point Chevalier Pirates junior was a New Zealand Residents and NZ Secondary Schools rep in 2014, before becoming an NYC mainstay for the defending champion Warriors in 2015.
The son of Silver Ferns legend Temapara Bailey (formerly Clark, née George), a 19-year-old Clark came off the bench for Samoa in 2016 Tests against Tonga and Fiji. A sole interchange appearance in the NRL for the Warriors followed in 2017, as did a Junior Kiwis jumper, but his career stalled with a short-lived midyear switch to Canberra.
Reigniting his NRL dream with a train-and-trial deal on the Gold Coast, Clark became a regular for the Titans as a starting hooker or interchange player in 2020 and featured in their surprise charge to the finals in 2021.
The 24-year-old represented Māori All Stars in early-2022 and was included in the Kiwis’ wider squad for the mid-season Test against Tonga but was not required for the matchday 17 and was an unlucky omission for the World Cup at the end of the year.
Transitioning into a prop/lock role in 2023, Clark played every game in 2024 to take his Titans first-grade tally to 94 appearances. Soon after being unveiled as a 2025 signing for the Warriors on a three-year deal, the nuggetty powerhouse was named in the Kiwis’ Pacific Championships squad where a Test debut beckoned.
Named as 18th man for the clashes with Australia and Tonga, Clark was elevated to the interchange bench for the promotion/relegation match against Papua New Guinea in a late change and made 124 metres, five tackle-breaks and 17 tackles in an eye-catching maiden Test outing.
