Brodie Croft

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Brodie Croft
Personal information
Born (1997-07-14) 14 July 1997 (age 24)
Dalby, Queensland, Australia
Height177 cm (5 ft 10 in)
Weight87 kg (13 st 10 lb)
Playing information
PositionHalfback, Five-eighth
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2016–19 Melbourne Storm 39 13 9 2 72
2020–21 Brisbane Broncos 26 2 0 0 8
2022– Salford Red Devils 0 0 0 0 0
Total 65 15 9 2 80
As of 19 August 2021
Source: [1][2]

Brodie Croft (born 14 July 1997) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a halfback or five-eighth for the Salford Red Devils in the ESL.

He previously played for the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos in the National Rugby League. Croft will join the Salford Red Devils for the 2022 Super League season.

Early life[]

Croft was born in Dalby, Queensland, Australia. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Toowoomba and later Anglican Church Grammar School, Brisbane.

He played his junior rugby league for the Highfields Eagles and he played with the First XV Churchie side in 2014 alongside Kalyn Ponga, and Jaydn Su'A[3] before being signed by the Melbourne Storm.

He played for the Toowoomba Clydesdales in the Cyril Connell Cup during 2013, before moving to Brisbane, to join the Eastern Suburbs Tigers in the Mal Meninga Cup.[4] The following year, he was named 18th man for the Queensland under-18 rugby league team.[5]

Playing career[]

2016[]

In 2016, Croft was named in the QAS under-20 squad and played for the Melbourne Storm's NYC team.[6][7] On 22 May, he made his Queensland Cup debut with Melbourne's feeder team, the Easts Tigers, scoring a try in their 52-20 win over the Ipswich Jets.[8]

In Round 15 of the 2016 season, he made his NRL debut for the Melbourne Storm against St. George Illawarra.[9] On 13 July, he represented the Queensland under-20 rugby league team.[10]

2017[]

Croft started the 2017 season by playing in the NRL Auckland Nines. He scored 3 tries and was named in the team of the tournament.[11] In just his second NRL game, he slotted an extra-time field goal to secure victory over North Queensland and in doing so, Melbourne escaped with a 23-22 win in golden-point.[12]

On 24 July, he signed a contract extension with the Storm, tying him to the club for at least another three years with a view to replacing Cooper Cronk in the long-term as Melbourne's halfback. Croft was described by the media at the time as the next Cooper Cronk and was labelled a "Cooper Cronk clone".[13][14] On 19 August, with Cronk rested, Croft scored a hat-trick and had two try assists in a 44-12 win over the Newcastle Knights in just his fifth NRL game.[15] Despite this performance, he didn't feature in another NRL match for the remainder of the season due to the return of Cronk, leading the NRL side to the 2017 NRL Grand Final victory.

2018[]

In February 2018, Croft staked his claim as Melbourne's new halfback. He scored a try and three try assists in a composed performance against Leeds in the 2018 World Club Challenge at AAMI Park.[16] He played in the 2018 NRL Grand Final against the Sydney Roosters where Melbourne were beaten 21-6.

2019[]

After playing the first 21 games of the 2019 season at halfback, Croft was surprisingly dropped from the Melbourne line-up entirely, only playing one more game in round 25 at five-eighth, and not making an appearance throughout the finals.[17][18] In order to remain under the salary cap for 2020, Melbourne elected to release Croft from his contract, officially doing so on 29 November. That same day, he signed a three-year contract with the Brisbane Broncos.[19][20]

Croft was part of the Junior Kangaroos squad which played against France on 25 October. The match ended in a 62-4 Kangaroos victory.[citation needed]

2020[]

Croft endured a difficult first year in Brisbane and played 14 games for the club as they finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon.[21]

2021[]

In round 20 of the 2021 NRL season, Croft scored his first try of the season in a 37-18 thrashing of arch rivals North Queensland. On 9 August, Croft signed a two-year deal to join English side Salford.[22]

Honours[]

Individual

Club

References[]

  1. ^ loverugbyleague
  2. ^ "Brodie Croft". Rugby League Project. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  3. ^ "Queensland Under 16 teams announced". Redsrugby.com.au. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  4. ^ NRL (29 March 2014). "Rd 5 CC & MM scores". QRL. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  5. ^ NRL (2 June 2015). "Queensland Under 18 team". QRL. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  6. ^ Tim Costello and Josh Robertson. "LeagueUnlimited Holden Cup NYC Under 20's Teams - 2016 Round 7". League Unlimited. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  7. ^ NRL (6 January 2016). "Broncos young guns dominate QAS U20s". QRL. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  8. ^ Crowhurst, Matt (22 May 2016). "Tigers score impressive win over Jets". QRL. Retrieved 19 June 2016.
  9. ^ "Updated Team lists: Dragons v Storm". NRL.com. 18 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  10. ^ NRL (7 July 2016). "Cowboy Salam earns late call-up". QRL. Retrieved 15 July 2016.
  11. ^ Dan Walsh (5 February 2017). "Auckland Nines 2017: Teens and tyros headline team of the tournament". Herald Sun. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  12. ^ Travis Meyn (17 June 2017). "Storm young gun Brodie Croft's field goal sinks Cowboys 23-22 in golden point". news.com.au. Retrieved 17 June 2017.
  13. ^ "Melbourne Storm sensation Brodie Croft says he is no Cooper Cronk clone". www.smh.com.au. 17 June 2017.
  14. ^ Dan Walsh (24 July 2017). "NRL 2017: Melbourne Storm lock in Big Three successors with four key re-signings". Fox Sports. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  15. ^ Roy Ward (19 August 2017). "Melbourne Storm claim minor premiership as Brodie Croft hat-trick inspires win". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 22 August 2017.
  16. ^ Marmont, Andrew (16 February 2018). "Brodie Croft stamps authority on Storm's halfback spot". Retrieved 20 February 2018.
  17. ^ "Not dropped, just 'rested': Mystery surrounds Storm halfback on eve of finals". 26 August 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  18. ^ "Axed Storm star to get last-gasp finals lifeline". Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  19. ^ "An update on Brodie Croft and Curtis Scott". 28 November 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  20. ^ "Croft locks in with the Broncos for three years". 29 November 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2020.
  21. ^ "Brisbane get wooden spoon as North Queensland finish on a high". www.nrl.com. 24 September 2020.
  22. ^ "Salford Red Devils to sign Brisbane Broncos half-back for 2022". BBC Sport.

External links[]

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