Stephen Crichton lost himself, just a little bit, in 2024.
That’s the Dally M captain of the year, No.1 centre in the game and already one of the best Bulldogs signings this century, quietly doubting himself after three straight premierships with the Panthers and starring roles for NSW and Samoa.
Best of luck to anyone marking up on him now the Canterbury captain has sorted that out.
“I learnt a lot about myself across the whole year. And, to be honest, I lost myself a little bit amongst it all early on,” Crichton said of what was something of a breakout year, strangely so given all his success before he’d landed at Belmore.
But for all the obvious leadership traits, prowess as one of the NRL’s best big-game players and personalised handshakes with every single teammate, Cameron Ciraldo’s star signing had never captained a team in his life.
“It was mostly when I looked back, but I did notice things at the time, early on, too,” he said.
“Because the captaincy is such a big role, I was worrying a little bit too much about how people looked at me, what they thought of how I was doing.
“That was a learning curve. And I’ve had a lot of good leaders too at Penrith, so I probably tried to be like them too much. Across the year I realised I could still be myself. You don’t have to act the way someone else does, or how they expect you to act, to lead a club.
Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton learnt a lot about himself during his first season at Canterbury.Credit: Steven Siewert
“Throughout the year I learnt who to listen to and who to take advice from, and keeping that circle pretty tight and small. I was learning that whole time, and I’m still learning now as a captain, especially about not needing to do everything all the time.”
Coach Ciraldo never expected Crichton to be demanding the Bulldogs captaincy when he arrived from the Panthers on a four-year deal worth about $3.3 million.
Within weeks, the 24-year-old left Ciraldo with little choice but to put him in charge. Such was his influence throughout his first pre-season at the club, even while managing a quad injury.
As the season proper began, Crichton established himself as not just the best recruit of 2024, but one to be considered, in time, alongside Canterbury’s elite signings of the NRL era: a roll-call of former captains, including Andrew Ryan, Michael Ennis and James Graham.
“I don’t think he needed the captaincy to become a better player,” Ciraldo said. “But I certainly think it helped him drive himself to new standards and new heights.
“It was interesting that he said that he felt like he was worried about everyone else at the start of last season. As a coaching staff we certainly never felt like it was holding him back or feeling that, but it was good to get that insight from him.
“Having learnt from that 12 months ago, he’s in a really good position to take his leadership forward this season.”
Crichton and Canterbury begin again on Saturday against local rivals St George Illawarra.
The 2024 clash between the two storied clubs – when Dragons five-eighth Kyle Flanagan wound up with a season-ending, four-game ban for biting Crichton – was the one subject sidestepped by the Bulldogs skipper.
Privately, he and the Bulldogs were miffed at the unsuccessful judiciary defence and preceding commentary that Crichton had contributed to Flanagan’s bite by wrestling him on the ground.
Crichton holds his tongue on the subject of any added spice in the Kogarah derby. On the Bulldogs’ past and promising future, he’s far more forthcoming.
“It’s something very cool to me when I think about the rich history of the club, and you stop and you think, I’m a part of this,” he said.
“The pressure that comes with being captain, the responsibility that comes with it, that’s exciting for me.
“There were a lot of lessons that we took out of last year, especially with our young squad that we have here. There are a lot of lessons you learn by being in those big games and nailing those big moments in a game.
“I don’t think we have to do too much too different because we took some massive steps last year. Now we build on that.”
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