His teammates name him “a freak of nature” and the very best athlete they’ve ever seen, so it’s no shock that Stephen Crichton has no time for gaming consoles as he appears to be like to etch his title into the rugby league document books.
Crichton, 23, will play his one centesimal sport for Penrith in Sunday’s grand closing, and it’ll even be his final with the strike centre off to Canterbury the place he’s anticipated to play fullback.
Sunday’s farewell means many alternative issues to completely different gamers, however for Crichton, it presents a possibility to attain a attempt in four-straight grand finals – one thing just one different participant has achieved.
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That was St George Dragons legend Johnny King, who crossed in six-straight grand finals from 1960-65, whereas Parramatta’s Brett Kenny holds his personal distinctive document having scored doubles in three-straight deciders.
Crichton has the prospect to attain for a fourth consecutive yr on the most important stage, having touched down in 2020 in a loss earlier than he jagged the intercept to sink Souths in 2021 after which opened the scoring final yr.
A slice of historical past beckons, however the man himself was shocked when advised in regards to the stat.
“I haven’t thought about that and I hadn’t even heard about that,” he mentioned when advised about what King and Kenny achieved.
“It’s about the team and what we can produce on the weekend.
“(The try against Souths) was probably No.1 because I did it in a grand final.
“We were coming back from a grand final loss the year before that, so this one meant a lot more. Scoring that try and getting the win was pretty special.”
Crichton isn’t any stranger to producing the massive performs, having executed it for Samoa finally yr’s World Cup, and the two-time premiership winner’s success may be traced again to an lively childhood the place all he wished to do was play sport.
At 193cm and 99kg, Crichton is a nightmare for defenders on the sting given his aerial capacity, velocity and nifty footwork.
He can do issues that different gamers solely dream about, and that’s as a result of he spent his childhood on a footy discipline as an alternative of in his room mashing the joystick on a PlayStation.
“I wouldn’t say I dominated everything, but I played a lot of sports when I was a kid like footy, basketball, volleyball and pretty much any sport with a ball,” he mentioned.
“I was an outside person when I was younger. I hated PS3 or PS4 and playing games like that. I still don’t play any of those.
“Spencer (Leniu) and some of the boys play all those games and I take the piss out of those guys and tell them to add me even though I don’t have an account.”
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Teammate Liam Martin has seen Crichton do some wild issues on the basketball courtroom and is predicting the Belmore-bound star to grow to be a scratch golfer by the top of the yr though he solely not too long ago began taking part in.
“He’s a freak of nature,” the back-rower mentioned.
“We’ve got a little basketball hoop in the gym, and you watch what he can do with a basketball and you just go ‘oh my god, what can’t this kid do?’
“I think he’s taken up golf now and I’ll give him two months before he’s a freak at that as well. He’s just an incredible athlete.”
The native junior has all of the instruments to dominate the sport for one more decade in any respect ranges, along with his work between the ears matching what he can do along with his toes and arms.
“Just looking at him, he’s the best athlete I’ve ever played with. Some of the stuff he can do is crazy,” champion halfback Nathan Cleary mentioned.
“I think he only just turned 23 the other day, so it’s pretty unbelievable.
“I think the most impressive thing about him is that he’s an athlete and he’s naturally gifted, but the head on his shoulders is (so mature).
“The work that he puts in is second to none. He works so hard on his game and he’s constantly trying to get better. It’s no wonder he’s still on that upward trajectory.”
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The Bulldogs are hoping Crichton’s arrival can flip their fortunes round after years of distress on the foot of the desk, however what occurs subsequent yr isn’t on his radar as he tries to seal his Panthers exit with a 3rd title.
“I’m trying not to think about it too much,” he mentioned forward of what is going to be an emotional farewell.
“I’m just focusing on the game and what I have to do to get the result.
“It’s an exciting week, so I don’t want to worry about leaving, but it would be good to get the win so I can leave on a high.”
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