ANY hopes England harboured of their Four Nations rivals being caught out by the talent of new Wolves signing Daryl Clark would have gone out of the window with the end-of-term honours won by the hooker.

Although Clark has been a rising star in Super League for some time, not having pulled on the senior shirt for his country and playing for an unfashionable team like Castleford could have led to him sneaking under the radar.

However, England coach Steve McNamara will now struggle to spring a surprise against Samoa, Australia and New Zealand after Clark lifted both the Steve Prescott Man of Steel and Young Player of the Year awards in Manchester a fortnight ago.

In winning the honours, the 21-year-old, making his first trip Down Under, may as well have painted a huge target on the bright white shirt he will fill this tournament as one of only two hookers in the touring party.

“Maybe, but hopefully it’s not done that,” said Clark, who is named on the bench for Saturday’s Four Nations opener against Samoa at Brisbane Broncos’ Suncorp Stadium.

“I’m just looking forward to the opportunity.

“This is another step up for me, the highest level you can play in rugby league so I’m going to be testing myself against some of the best players in the world.”

With helping unfancied Cas achieve their best Super League finish of fourth this year, reaching the Challenge Cup Final at Wembley and then picking up two of the sport’s major individual awards, the leap to the big stage has possibly come quicker than he might have expected.

But Clark is keeping his feet firmly on the ground.

“I’m coping, I’m feeling all right about it,” he said.

“It is all a massive step up and come a bit quick. If you’d asked me at the start of the season did I think I would be picking up those two awards, it probably wouldn’t have been in my mind.

“At the start of the year, me and the Castleford players worked really hard in pre-season.

“We’d been written off by a lot of people and that was giving us a bit of fire and we all wanted to prove people wrong through the year.

“This (the awards and England selection) is all new to me, including it being my first time in Australia.

“I’m just trying to take it as it comes, try and enjoy the whole experience.

“It’s important having people around me who have done stuff like this before, playing at the highest level.

“And with having some of the best players in the world in our team, it can only help me.”

Between the domestic season ending and setting off Down Under, Clark said he kept in shape training on one of England’s fall-out camps.

Now over the coming weeks he is ready to tackle some of the great hookers he has admired from afar – namely Australia captain Cameron Smith and New Zealand’s Issac Luke.

“They have been outstanding for a number of years and named among the best players in the world for a long time,” said Clark.

“They always have outstanding seasons in the NRL.

“So to be playing against and mixing myself with people like that is going to be special for me.

“Testing yourself against people like that gives you a little inkling into how you are performing.”