‘You need to believe in yourself when others don’t’: Skateboards, love, rugby and the comeback of the NRL season

An electric skateboard has done what every NRL back-rower has struggled to do this year – stop Angus Crichton.

Crichton is the form second-rower in the NRL, a big reason the Sydney Roosters are closing in on a home final and will be one of the first players picked in Mal Meninga’s Kangaroos team for the Pacific Championships.

The 28-year-old is the game’s comeback story of the year, especially when you consider he could not even make the Roosters’ team for the opening game of the season in Las Vegas following his bipolar disorder diagnosis at the start of 2023.

But Crichton’s remarkable comeback in 2024 nearly came unstuck before it had really started. A story emerged this week about how he had fallen off an electric skateboard, which explains the strapping he has carried on his right arm for most of the campaign.

Roosters teammate Brandon Smith let it slip on The Bye Round podcast how Crichton had tumbled off his four-wheeler.

Crichton could not believe Smith had broken the Chooks’ cone of silence, but was happy to shed light on the freak accident.

“I actually fell off before Magic Round,” Crichton recalls. “That skateboard will never stop me. I still ride it to training every day and down to the beach.

“There’s no parking around Allianz Stadium, so a lot of the boys have electric scooters and bikes, but I had to be my typical different self and went with the electric skateboard.

“You hold a little remote in your hand and it [controls the speed]. It gets up to about 30km/h.

“I was riding to training one day with Jared [Waerea-Hargreaves], who was on his scooter, a car came around the corner and I had to swerve to miss it.

“I went over the two lines in the middle of the road, the skateboard started to wobble, and I knew I was about to go over, so I just had to brace for the fall.

“I tucked my elbows in, rolled into a ball and hit the bitumen.

“All I could hear was Jared laughing. The guy jumped out of his car and asked me if I wanted to see the fall on his dash cam.

“I had grazes on my ribs and my elbow, which was pretty deep.

“I strapped it once [during a game] and then stopped, but the dirt started getting into it, and it looked gross. The strapping actually fell off one game, so I was back to square one.”

Skateboard accidents are nothing new in rugby league. North Sydney legend Greg Florimo required eight stitches to a head gash the day before he made his run-on debut against Canterbury in 1986.

Florimo’s mother, Dot, made him wear headgear, and he continued to skate to training from Willoughby to Neutral Bay, before getting teammate Olsen Filipaina to drive him home.

“After my fall on a skateboard, later that year Freddy Teasdell was caught with a yo-yo on the sidelines, so we became known as the ‘kindergarten kids’,” Florimo recalls.

“Angus had a few games at the Bears when he was coming through with Souths. He’s in great form, he has been all season, including the Origin series when he was phenomenal.”

It’s easy to forget Crichton was about to be lost to the Roosters and the NRL when negotiating with Rugby Australia about this time last year.

There had been advanced talks with his management and then former RA chairman Hamish McLennan about a two-year deal, worth about $1.6 million, which would have included a move to the Western Force.

When negotiations fell over, after almost three months, Crichton’s manager, David Rawlings, slammed RA, telling this masthead at the time: “We had contracting deadlines missed on multiple occasions, which is just bad business. This wasn’t a money grab; he was keen to go. He thought he could help. I feel for the Western Force. They would have got themselves a potential world-class No.12. The pathway that they laid out for Angus was very appealing.”

French rugby club Montpellier also entered the frame, but the cashed-up powerhouse struggled in the Top 14, to the point they found themselves in the relegation battle, and again talks were put on hold.

Crichton switched his focus back to the Roosters, who were prepared to cut him loose, but only to move to rugby, not to a rival NRL club.

The Roosters pursued David Fifita – who plays in Crichton’s left-edge position – and they thought they had their man, before the Gold Coast giant reneged on the deal. The Tricolours insisted talks with Crichton had already commenced. Fans would have enjoyed Crichton ripping into Fifita on several occasions – and scoring a hat-trick against the Titans back-rower – last Sunday.

When you ask Crichton to explain his brilliant form turnaround this year, he is quick to deflect any praise to his teammates.

Crichton returned to the starting side in round five against Canterbury, burst to life the following weekend against Newcastle and has not looked back since.

Having veteran Luke Keary on his side of the field every week has helped him with consistency and confidence.

Crichton’s belief soared even higher following an excellent campaign for NSW in their State of origin series win over Queensland.

“You know when you’re playing well, and when you need to pick it up – it’s been a good year so far,” Crichton says.

“We play a team sport, and when other guys play well, it trickles through the team. We’ve got so many guys who are maturing, like Sam Walker, and guys like Luke Keary, who has been rock-solid for so long. It makes your own job easier.

“My only goal was to get back into the team, and then I wanted to nail down that left-edge position, which wasn’t mine at the start of the year.

“You also need confidence and belief. I’ve said it before how you need to believe in yourself when others don’t believe in you. Hard work gets you there.”

Crichton also credits being in a happy relationship with girlfriend Chloe Esegbona as a huge influence on his headspace.

“When you’re living a happy and healthy life off the field, it allows you to express yourself on the field,” Crichton says.

“She’s my biggest supporter, fiercely loyal, down to earth, and she makes life fun. She knew nothing about the game when we first met. I actually told her I was a barber.”

Victory against Canberra on Sunday and then South Sydney next Friday will almost certainly mean the Roosters host a qualifying final.

The departures of Keary, Waerea-Hargreaves, Joey Manu, Joseph Suaalii and Sitili Tupouniua at the end of the season has only reminded the Bondi boys what a golden opportunity awaits them in the next six weeks.

The exodus means the premiership window will not remain as open as it is right now.

“We’re totally aware of what is in front of us, and what an opportunity we have, and what we need to do for the blokes who have bled for this club,” Crichton says.

If the Roosters can land the title it will cap a remarkable comeback for Crichton. It’s been quite a ride – skateboard and all.

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