How Penrith Panthers came to sign rising star Stephen Crichton
Penrith have unearthed one of the finds of the season in Stephen Crichton – who, remarkably, fell into their lap in an extraordinary way. But none of it would’ve been possible without crucial turning point six years ago.
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Stephen Crichton wants you to know he owes $130 to a family in Rooty Hill.
Not because they want the cash. Or would ever accept it.
“But without their money,” Crichton says simply, “I wouldn’t be here.”
And by here, he means rugby league’s latest Next Big Thing.
Which isn’t his claim.
Nor any guarantee for success.
But, geez, hasn’t this lanky Mt Druitt kid got people talking?
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Especially given in little more than 20 games — or in rugby league terms, a blink — this rising livewire has transformed from Jersey Flegg wannabe into breakout Penrith Panthers star.
Three years ago, this Western Sydney kid was nothing like NRL quality.
“You know how juniors have division one and division two,” Crichton says. “Well, I was in division three.”
But not anymore.
No, instead this footballer who was born in Samoa — and to a pair of onion factory workers — is scoring tries, turning heads and continuing the type of rise that is earning an NRL debut before even getting your own bedroom at home.
Which again, comes back to that $130 loan.
Other reasons, too.
Like Crichton rejecting the GWS Giants, accepting Jesus Christ and, over summer, enduring three injections into knees so bad he couldn’t do squat lifts in the gym.
Then there’s his old man Va’a — the Rooty Hill bus driver who, 17 years ago, quit that Apia onion factory to ensure his six children could become whatever they wanted in Australia. Which is now proving to be some call.
Same deal the decision by Ben Harden, who heads the Panthers’ development program, to not only sign a kid few others saw potential in, but helped him throughout a 2019 season that went from Flegg to NRL.
But more on all that soon enough.
First, the $130.
Or more specifically, the fees Crichton was supposed to pay when, aged 13, he signed on for his first ever game of rugby league with St Marys.
“At the time, both my parents were working,” he recalls.
“But with all us kids, we just couldn’t afford the fees.
“So my best mate Jordan Bryant, his mum and dad said ‘OK, we’ll pay them’.
“I remember telling them no, that I didn’t even really want to play anyway.
“But they were strong on it. Even drove around to my parents’ house to explain how, for my first season, they were paying my fees.”
Which they did.
But not because Crichton was any good.
“I’d played some rugby union, but only as a fill-in,” he continues. “I’d go watch my cousins play and, when they didn’t have enough for a team, go out there in my joggers.
“I wasn’t much good.
“But I still remember Jordan’s parents this one night, as they were dropping me home from training, saying ‘just remember us when you make it’.
“Those words, they have never left me.”
Which is because, even as one of the code’s youngest players, Crichton gets it.
Understands he is only here because of so many others.
A truth proved by the fact this rising Penrith flyer still visits the Bryants regularly, carries a bible in his car and, before training sessions, quietly pays homage to a photograph of parents Va’a and Sina stuck inside his locker.
Same as for this story, he wants to tell you all about older brother Christian, the Canterbury Bulldogs utility who, three years his senior, spent their early years organising training runs that were about far more than brotherly bonding.
“Growing up where I did, there were gangs, fights, stabbings,” Crichton recounts.
“But every day after school, so I wouldn’t hang around at the shops, my brother would always come pick me up and take me training with him.
“Even if was just for a kick, he kept me off the streets.”
Then there’s Harden, who not only plucked Crichton from junior obscurity, but kept him a spot in the Panthers’ SG Ball side after he failed to show for trials.
“They were announced on Facebook,” the teenager recalls, laughing. “And I didn’t have social media.”
Elsewhere, there are the Bryants, who paid his first fees, and those Panthers medical staffers who identified, over summer, serious problems with his knees.
“Apparently my bones were growing too fast for the muscle inside my knee caps,” explains the 193cm teen.
“It was really bad.
“In the gym, I couldn’t squat. And by halftime in games, they were always really sore.
“So I got three separate cortisone injections before pre-season … it’s made a huge difference.”
Same deal an order by dad to reject the GWS Giants.
“Around the time of that Panthers SG Ball trial I missed, I was also trialling with GWS,” Crichton reveals.
“I was tall, could jump and had a decent kicking game so they were going to sign me up.
“But dad, he wanted me to stay with rugby league.
“My older brother Christian had already signed with Penrith and was doing well so dad, he told me to cut AFL. And he has the say in our family.”
Wonderfully, Va’a Crichton also has the say at church, where he is pastor of Rooty Hill AOG.
Among a small group of Christian players at Penrith, Crichton not only attends church on Sundays, or bible study on Friday nights, but prays three times during every NRL game — before warm-up, before kick-off, and again at halftime.
“Because without God, I can’t do any of this,” he says simply. “My faith is my foundation.”
Elsewhere, Crichton attributes his success to the close support of five church mates, and that large Samoan family with whom he still lives.
Which is why stuck to his locker inside Panthers Academy, this rising teen keeps a picture of his parents.
“Before every session, I always look at the photo too,” he says.
“Just to remind myself that while I could be anywhere right now, it’s because of them that I’m here.
“And not only my parents.
“That moment is about all the people who have helped me, coached me — everyone who has been part of my journey.”
Like the Bryants, without whom this story never even begins.
“First people I went to after being told of my NRL debut,” Crichton says. “Drove straight from training to their home in Rooty Hill.
“Jordan’s mum, she was in tears.
“But I just wanted to let them all know what a big part they played in me making it.”
Better, he got them all tickets for the game.
Then, the home game after that.
“So now I’m just wanting this coronavirus lockdown to end,” he says. “That way I can give them tickets to our next home game too.”
SEVEN THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT THE ADMIRABLE CRICHTON
Never trialled for the Penrith SG Ball team that launched his career
“They announced it on Facebook but I wasn’t on social media, so I never went. But (Panthers development head) Ben Harden called me up and said he’d still put me in the squad somewhere. He was the only one who thought I had it in me back then. He’s been training me ever since too.”
Nicknamed Critter
“It was actually the nickname of my older brother Christian, who plays for the Bulldogs. He used to play on the right edge of a team where they all had nicknames that rhymed. All I know is one of them was ‘Hitter’ so Christian became ‘Critter’. Now people call me the same thing as well.”
Lives in a household of nine
“I’m the middle of six kids. One of the older brothers has moved out but Christian moved back in recently with his partner and daughter. So it’s never boring. I only just got my own room at the end of last year.”
Went to high school with Panthers winger Brian To’o
“Brian was built like me — a stick. I was at Rooty Hill High for the first two years with him before switching to Patrician Brothers, Blacktown. We used to catch the train from Mt Druitt for training with the Panthers. Now on the hill at home games, all my family, friends and cousins sit with his family.”
Left Samoa aged two
“We moved to New Zealand first, but only for a year. My parents always believed there would be more opportunities for us kids here in Australia. I’m forever grateful because it was a big sacrifice they made, to leave everything behind.”
Started at Penrith in his brother’s shadow
“When I signed on, there were a lot of people talked down about me. Said I was only there because of Christian, who was already doing well. But my brother just kept encouraging me. And whenever people said anything negative, I just trained harder.”
Is in a Panthers bible study group
“There are only a few of us players — myself, Brian To’o and Jarome Luai. We also have (Panthers staffer) Dave Simmons but unfortunately he can’t come into the club at the moment because of the NRL restrictions.”
Originally published as How Penrith Panthers came to sign rising star Stephen Crichton
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