Angus Crichton officially” Hints at his major scaredness” before running the show for the Blues….
After a late tackle at Suncorp Stadium, Angus Crichton believed he had broken his neck, but he was able to recover and win the Wally Lewis Medal as the State of Origin series’ top player. After celebrating one of their biggest victories to date on Wednesday night, NSW took to the skies on Thursday morning, hoping of sustained success.
Dylan Edwards looked fit despite playing through a knee injury, and Blues winger Brian To’o boarded the plane back to Sydney still wearing his jersey.
Mitch Moses emerged as one of the Blues’ series-clinching heroes with a super individual try and wonderful cover tackle on Reece Walsh after hobbling, and halves partner Jarome Luai beat the scars of last year’s axing with the decisive linebreak.
But it is Crichton’s story that is most remarkable.
The Blues backrower battled some personal demons last year, including
He subsequently started the NSW Cup season at the Sydney Roosters this year, but it required even more resiliency for him to regain his first-grade berth and emerge as the competition’s best second-row player.
“I almost broke my neck. It was pretty sore. My head was fine and I didn’t have a concussion at all, but I crunched my neck pretty badly,” Crichton said.
“At the time I thought I had properly injured it.
“I felt shooting pain in my neck which is never a good sign, but there was no way I was missing out on that game.
“I had to nurse it through the rest of the game. I was happy to get through the rest of the game.”
It made little impact on Crichton’s performance.
captain Daly Cherry-Evans throughout NSW’s 14-4 win, as NSW kept the Maroons tryless in a decider for the first time.
“I was pissed off (when ordered off for the HIA) because, without sounding arrogant, I felt like I was in a mood and ready to go,” Crichton said.
“My job was to try and get at ‘Cherry’, and get quick play-the-balls around those guys.
“I have a lot of respect for that bloke, I played Aussies with him, he’s a champion player and bloke, but it’s nice to finally get one over him.”
Crichton had not had time to properly reflect on his previous 20 months in the hours after the win.
“I’ve come a long way. I need to keep going now,” Crichton said.
“You play footy for these moments.
(My partner Chloe) has been my rock. It’s the first time I’ve been with someone who has helped me become the best version of myself.
“The first game she came to was the World Cup final (in 2022) … she’s gone from there, to reserve grade at Henson Park, she’s stuck by me through it all.”
NSW want to believe the defensive steel they found to keep the Maroons tryless on Wednesday night canup their next era.
Winners in just four of the last 18 series before this year, the Blues looked shot when they were beaten 38-10 in game one at home six weeks ago.
Their effort to claim the series from that point made them only the second side in history to win the final two games on the road and clinch the series.
“We didn’t talk about the enormity of what’s happened in the game because it’s a new group,” Maguire said after stopping a third-straight Queensland series win.
“It’s something there this group wants to build themselves.
“And that’ll go down in history.”
