Angus Crichton has chosen his side, pledging allegiance to rugby league for the foreseeable future with a new two-year Sydney Roosters deal that will see him play on with the tricolours until at least the end of 2024.
Rugby league have landed the latest blow in their ongoing player-war with the foundational code, with Crichton drawing up a two-year extension with Sydney powerhouse the Roosters.
The Sporting Base understands the deal will keep Angus at the club until the end of 2024, with official announcements about the re-signing expected to come early next week. The Daily Telegraph is reporting similar, with Dean Ritchie suggesting coach Trent Robinson played a major role in turning Crichton’s head back to the NRL and the tricolours.
The 25-year-old had aspirations to play for the Wallabies in the World Cup in 2023, and sources close to the situation reveal that Crichton felt it was “now or never” for his cross-code swap. If he were to leave, reports declare, it would have been at the end of next year.
The forward was on $720k over the past two years, and will rake in a touch more in 2023 and 2024.
Sydney’s second-rower originally started life as a rugby star, playing for the Young Cherrypickers and NSW Schoolboys. He was soon scooped up by the Roosters development program, however, and pivoted into a rugby league career.
He played for the North Sydney Bears in 2016, before debuting for the Rabbitohs in round 19.
Crichton went on to play 55 games in the red and green of South Sydney, before returning to his junior club the Roosters in 2019. He’s turned out 61 times for the tricolours, and won an NRL title with the team in 2019. This year he hit double-digit State of Origin appearances, and plays a vital role in the New South Wales second-row rotational lineup.
The Roosters star was named best second rower in the competition this year by his peers in the RLPA Team of the Year, despite a raft of suspensions through the middle of the season.
