The missed goal that drove Canberra skipper Jarrod Croker to pointscoring greatness

Nine years ago Jarrod Croker missed the biggest kick of what was then a young career. It could have broken him, but instead it drove the Canberra star to become his era’s greatest pointscorer.

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 17: Simon Dwyer of the Tigers celebrates after Jarrod Croker of the Raiders misses a shot at goal during the first NRL semi final match between the Canberra Raiders and the Wests Tigers at Canberra Stadium on September 17, 2010 in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Stefan Postles/Getty Images)

• Seeds planted for Raiders success 10 months back
• The unsung hero of Canberra’s resurgence

Jarrod Croker has kicked 725 goals but it’s the one he missed almost nine years ago that transformed him into one of the best sharpshooters the game has seen.

On a bitterly cold September night in 2010, Croker lined up a penalty goal from 30 metres out, just wide of the left goalpost at Canberra Stadium.

It was a semi-final match against the Wests Tigers and the Raiders were trailing 26-24 with three minutes left on the clock.

A successful conversion would level the scores, but Croker’s kick sailed past the face of the goalposts. He slumped to the ground in agony, head in his hands. The Raiders lost the match.

“It was a tough time,” said Croker, who had turned 20 six days earlier. “I was upset and disappointed, but I moved on quite quickly and it made me the kicker I am today.

“I didn’t throw the tee away and want to stop goalkicking. I could have easily not wanted to goal-kick from that point on,” added Croker, who had made his NRL debut the previous season.

Live stream the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership on KAYO SPORTS. Every game of every round live & anytime on your TV or favourite device. Get your 14 day free trial.

Jarrod Croker after missing a decisive penalty goal during a sudden death semi-final against the Tigers in 2010.

Nine years later and Croker (80 per cent) boasts a better strike rate than the likes of Cameron Smith (74 per cent), Daryl Halligan (79 per cent) and Johnathan Thurston (79 per cent), and is behind only Hazem El Masri (82 per cent) and James Maloney (81 per cent) in NRL history.

Sunday afternoon he’ll become the second-youngest player to click up 250 NRL games when he runs out to face the Sydney Roosters at GIO Stadium.

It’s been a season of milestones, with Croker also becoming the youngest player to reach 1900 points and Canberra’s all-time leading tryscorer (121 tries).

But for all his achievements, there is one glaring anomaly: Croker has never played State of Origin or featured in a Test match.

“It’s still something I want to do for sure,” he said. “I’m always going to want to play representative footy until the day I finish playing rugby league.

“If I go through my whole career without playing, then that’s the way it is. There is always next year. I feel like I have plenty of time left. Maybe one day.”

Jarrod Croker will play his 250th NRL game against the Sydney Roosters.

Croker’s goalkicking prowess had humble beginnings — discarded styrofoam cups scattered over the football fields of Goulburn.

“I always loved goalkicking, it’s something I had a passion for it.

“When I was a kid, I lived next door to a soccer field and I would jump the fence every afternoon, find an old styrofoam cup put a hole in it and practise my kicking over the soccer posts,” he said.

Back then, Croker’s favourite player was current NSW Blues coach and Roosters great Brad Fittler. At every chance, Croker would teleport himself on to the turf of the Sydney Football Stadium and into Fittler’s boots.

“My dad was a Roosters fans when I was younger so I was, too. I was an absolute Freddy Fittler diehard,” he said.

Jarrod Croker was a mad Roosters fan as a child.

“I used to pretend to be Fittler when we played footy as young kids. They called me ‘The Pretender’ because of it. I played in the halves as a kid and I used to hog the ball and try all the sidesteps.”

In a storyline only rugby league could spin, Croker would eventually make his NRL debut in round two in 2009 against the Roosters — coached by Fittler.

“I actually played my 100th game against the Roosters, too, and now I’m playing my 250th game against them.”

Originally published as The missed goal that drove Canberra skipper Jarrod Croker to pointscoring greatness