‘How the hell was I trying to play last year’: Crichton’s remarkable transformation

“I told you at the start of the year that I wanted to remind people of who I am and not be remembered as that guy who got locked up in a psychiatric ward, but that guy who is a great footy player. I think it’s starting to get back to that,” Crichton said.

“I can understand why people were counting me out, but if anything when people don’t want you it makes you want to prove people wrong and go out and show them who I am and what I am capable of. The biggest thing in sport and life is that internal belief and self-confidence. Believing you’re the best and what you can do and achieve. If you have your own back and you believe in yourself, that’s the first step towards achieving anything great.

“This isn’t how I pictured my career panning out. Looking back at it now, it has taught me a lot. I have a lot of determination and a lot of grit. But also a lot of gratitude. As tough as it has been, I wouldn’t change it because it’s built me into the person I am now.”

The Roosters’ failed pursuit of David Fifita hurt Crichton who, despite being under the impression this would be his final year at the club, let his emotions get the better of him in a post-match interview.

In the interview Crichton declared that coach Trent Robinson “knows where to find me” after voicing his frustrations over the club’s decision to sign Fifita, which later fell over.

“I found out in the media … I remember the day it all happened, it was all a bit of a whirlwind because they had been talking about keeping me on,” Crichton said.

“Then they signed him, or said they signed him. I was emotional about it. I was hurt, disappointed … I was highly emotional during that time. The media came up to me and asked me questions after the game and [I] spoke from my heart. It’s no disrespect to Dave because I played with him in the juniors and he’s a great guy and a great player, and he would have been a great buy for the club. I can’t disagree with that. But when the media asked me those questions, I was definitely emotional.

“[Robinson] asked me to come into his office and we had a heart-to-heart and spoke about some stuff we probably needed to talk about. I know we both walked away from that having a better understanding of each other having conversations we probably should have had prior. ”

The Roosters recently secured Crichton on a two-year extension worth about $1.65 million after months of negotiations.

Crichton holds no angst towards Robinson nor Roosters supremo Nick Politis despite the club’s former willingness to let him go.

“It’s a business at the end of the day, and they made a business decision thinking ‘we’ve given him his chance and he wasn’t up to scratch so we’ll move on and move forward’,” Crichton said.

“I don’t blame them for that. That’s the thing about being in an organisation like the Roosters: it’s cut-throat. Dealing with guys like Nick Politis and Trent Robinson – they’re smart guys, they’re ruthless guys, it’s a ruthless club. If you’re not winning, if you’re not being great and if you’re not demanding success, they’ll part ways. I don’t think it’s personal.

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“I think the club has been great to me and I’ll never talk poorly about the club. They had my back when I needed it. It’s such a great club. That’s the thing a lot of people don’t see about the Roosters. They’ll see a flashy club, they think big money and big players in a flashy area in the eastern suburbs, but it’s the people in the place that really make it special.”

”People like Cath King (club operations manager), all of our physios, our gym stuff, everyone in the front of the house – this is a really tight group here and something I want to be part of. I never wanted to leave. I love this place so much. The players, the coaches, the history, the area. Everything about it. I’m a Rooster, through and through and I’m happy I’m staying a Rooster.”

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