The sacrifice that convinced the Bulldogs Crichton was man to lead them back to NRL finals
One of the first things Stephen Crichton did when he joined Canterbury this season was move to the club’s heartland.
Only a handful of Bulldogs reside in the Canterbury area. Plenty have settled into the beautiful Sutherland Shire, and Viliame Kikau is still happy to make the long trek from Glenmore Park, where he built a home a few years ago.
That wasn’t enough for Crichton, however. He rented a three-bedroom unit in Belfield, next door to Belmore.
He knew if he was going to bring the best version of himself to his new club, and get a proper appreciation of the community and people he was going to represent each weekend, he needed to sacrifice seeing his parents and fiancee Leone every day.
“I knew if I was moving to a new club, I wouldn’t be taking it seriously if I still lived in Penrith and was worrying about travel and traffic,” Crichton says.
“I had to sit down with my parents and convince them I had to move out and move to Belmore, so I could do everything I could do to get the best out of myself, including things like recovery.
Stephen Crichton has been at Canterbury for less than a year, but has already become a fan favourite.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“The last thing I wanted to be doing was rushing out of training and worrying about getting home as fast as I could.
“Living up the road from training has been the biggest blessing. It was all about taking my footy seriously, like I have the last few years.
“I still go home to see my parents on my day off, and stay there overnight and travel back in the morning. That’s the most travel I’ll do during the week.
“I can’t live with my fiancee until we’re married at the end of the year, but we still get to see each other.”
Crichton has immersed himself in the local community. Belmore is a wonderful melting pot of communities, particularly of Middle Eastern and Asian backgrounds, and they have embraced their new skipper. Before kicking a ball, Crichton had his face painted on a wall outside popular cafe Jobel’s.
“It’s been mad. The boys get free coffee everywhere we go, and they show love, no matter what the score is,” Crichton says.
“The people are very loyal, they love the players, and that became a motivation, to try and put a smile on the faces of those people who love the boys and love the Dogs.”
Stephen Crichton eases the tension at training during the week.Credit: James Brickwood
It is frightening to think Crichton only turns 24 next week and is already a three-time premiership winner and the captain of a storied Sydney club.
Such is his standing in the game already that Crichton’s looming wedding forced the Test series between Samoa and England in the UK in October to be delayed by a week.
Knowing most of the Samoan side will be at the wedding, including Panthers duo Brian To’o and Jarome Luai, and Roosters prop Spencer Leniu, officials asked organisers in England to push the two Tests back by a week otherwise the Samoans would struggle to field a team.
When Penrith co-captain Isaah Yeo and Crichton helped launch the NRL season in Sydney’s CBD at the start of the year, the Panthers star declared the man known as “Critta” could be the toughest Panther to replace.
The premiers have lost plenty of superstars due to the salary cap pressure that comes with winning three straight titles, including Api Koroisau, Kurt Capewell, Kikau, Matt Burton and Spencer Leniu. Jarome Luai, James Fisher-Harris and Sunia Turuva will join them at the end of this season.
However, Yeo told this masthead at the time: “All the players that have left have been important for us – the boys who have been poached have all helped our success so much – [but] he [Crichton] has never played poorly in the Origin arena, he’s come up with big plays in grand finals, and he kicked the field goal to put Samoa into the World Cup final. No moment is too big for him.
Bulldogs fans give Stephen Crichton a hero’s welcome for their trial match against Cronulla.Credit: NRL Photos
“It’s not just what he brought on the field in those big moments, it was off the field, too. He brought the energy, he was incredibly professional, and a good leader for a lot of the younger boys as well. He’ll be sorely missed.”
When Penrith have looked flat at different stages this season, they sure could have done with an injection of Crichton’s energy.
When reminded about his comments about Crichton, Yeo said at this week’s NRL finals launch: “If you look at his moments in big games, whether it was his intercept in the 2021 grand final, or his try in last year’s grand final, he’s always coming up with big moments in big games. That’s hard to replace. Not many people can do that. You can put yourself in position to make a big play, but then you need to actually make those plays.
“He was a winner at Penrith, and he’s proving to be a winner at the Bulldogs. In his first year there, they are all of a sudden back in the finals.
“He’s gone there as a marquee signing and big-game player, [and] you can see the boys feeding off his energy, which is a quality of a good leader. He’s making everyone else better around him.”
Stephen Crichton and the Panthers celebrate a third straight premiership in 2023.Credit: Getty
Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo won a couple of premierships with Crichton at Penrith as an assistant coach under Ivan Cleary and knew he was getting a special talent – but not a ready-made captain.
In light of the off-field drug drama involving Josh Addo-Carr, it has been left to Crichton and Kikau to take charge on the training paddock, and show the young Dogs what is required at the pointy end of the season.
“I definitely thought Critta would be a leader in the future, but he’s surprised me how quickly he has developed his leadership qualities,” Ciraldo says.
“I’ve spoken before about how he led the way at a pre-season army camp, and people followed. When he was in rehab with a quad issue in January, he was still educating people and leading without doing the reps on the field.
“And even last week, he was grabbing younger players, taking them to breakfast and helping them understand what this time of year is all about.
“A lot of times in games this year I’ll send the trainer out with a message, but Critta has already basically said the same message word for word. He understands exactly what we want this football team to look and act like. It’s really helpful as a coach to have that alignment with your captain.”
Which is why Ciraldo wasn’t surprised Crichton had opted to live in Bulldogs heartland, and like Crichton himself, knew “it would give him a chance to play his best footy, and also get to know what the community was all about”.
The Bulldogs were bulldozed through the middle against Manly and then North Queensland to round out the regular season with two big losses. They know they will need to improve, and quickly, if they are to defeat the Sea Eagles in front of 50,000 mostly Bulldogs fans on Sunday at Accor Stadium.
Crichton will have a big say. And a short commute home.
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