Lachlan Croker

Lachlan Croker

Personal information
Born	(1996-12-12) 12 December 1996 (age 27) Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia
Height	180 cm (5 ft 11 in)
Weight	92 kg (14 st 7 lb)
Playing information
Position	Hooker, Five-eighth
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 2016 Canberra Raiders 1 0 0 0 0 2018– Manly Sea Eagles 118 20 0 0 80 Total 119 20 0 0 80
Source: [1] As of 8 September 2024

Lachlan Croker (born 12 December 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a hooker for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League (NRL).

Croker previously played for the Canberra Raiders as a five-eighth in the NRL.

Background

Croker was born in Goulburn, New South Wales, Australia.

Croker played his junior rugby league for the Crookwell Green Devils and Goulburn Stockmen, before being signed by the Canberra Raiders.

Before deciding on Rugby League, he played for his high school's Rugby Union team, at Trinity Catholic College Goulburn, and was captain of the team for several years.

Croker is the nephew of former Canberra player and Australian international Jason Croker. ^[2]

Playing career

Early career

From 2014 to 2016, Croker played for the Canberra Raiders' NYC team. ^[3] On 11 November 2015, he re-signed with Canberra on a two-year contract until the end of 2017. ^[4]

2016

In February, Croker got the chance to play with his uncle Jason at the 2016 NRL Auckland Nines. ^[5] For the 2016 season, he captained the Raiders' NYC side. ^[6] In round 2 of the 2016 NRL season, he made his NRL debut for Canberra against the Sydney Roosters. ^{[7] [8]} That would be his only NRL appearance for the season. ^[9]

2017

Croker was unable to break back into Canberra's NRL side in 2017. In November, he signed a one-year contract with the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles, starting in 2018. ^[10]

2018

In round 1 of the 2018 NRL season, he made his debut for Manly-Warringah, playing at five-eighth 19-18 loss to the Newcastle Knights at Hunter Stadium. In round 2 against the Parramatta Eels, he scored his first NRL try 54-0 wins at Brookvale Oval. In round 8 against the Newcastle Knights, he suffered anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury.

2019

Croker made his long awaited return to the Manly side for their round 7 match against the Canberra Raiders. Croker scored 2 tries in the game as Manly won 24-20. The following week, Croker suffered a hamstring injury in the club's win over Canterbury and was ruled out for 4-5 weeks. ^{[11] [12]}

2020

Croker played 20 games for Manly-Warringah in the 2020 NRL season as they finished a disappointing 13th on the table. ^[13]

2021

Croker played 26 games for Manly in the 2021 NRL season including the club's preliminary final loss against South Sydney after he made a full time move from the halves to hooker. ^[14]

2022

In round 15 of the 2022 NRL season, Croker scored two tries for Manly and kicked a 40/20 in the clubs loss against North Queensland. Manly had led the match 26-12 with seven minutes remaining but were defeated 28-26. ^[15] Croker played 23 games for Manly throughout the year as the club finished 11th and missed out on the finals. ^[16]

2023

Croker played 23 games for Manly in the 2023 NRL season as the club finished 12th on the table and missed the finals. ^[17]

Statistics

Year	Club	Games	Tries	Pts
2016	Canberra Raiders	1
2018	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles	8	1	4
2019		4	2	8
2020		20	1	4
2021		26	4	16
2022		23	4	16
2023		23	6	20
2024		9	2	8
	Totals	114	20	80

Source: ^[18]

References

1. "Lachlan Croker - Career Stats & Summary". Rugby League Project. 12 December 1996. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
2. "Home | Live Scores & Latest News". Fox Sports. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
3. "C". Nyc Database. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
4. "Croker re-signs with the Raiders". Zero Tackle. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
5. Rugby League (6 February 2016). "Youngest Croker impresses as Canberra Raiders win at Auckland Nines". Canberratimes.com.au. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
6. NRL. "NYC Late Mail: Raiders v Panthers". Raiders. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
7. "UPDATED: Round 2 NRL team lists". NRL.com. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
8. NRL. "NRL Late Mail: Raiders v Roosters". Raiders. Archived from the original on 12 March 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2016.
9. Ferguson, Shawn Dollin and Andrew. "Custom Match List - Rugby League Project". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
10. "Sea Eagles sign Lachlan Croker - Zero Tackle". 1 November 2017. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
11. "Lachlan Croker erases injury nightmare in sparkling return from 366-day layoff". Sporting News.
12. "Sea Eagles Injury List Rd 9". Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.
13. O'Loughlin, Liam (26 October 2020). "NRL 2020 Season Review: How will your side fare next year?". Sporting News. Archived from the original on 26 October 2020.
14. "GLORY, GLORY: Souths march into the GF as Wayne masterminds Manly mauling". www.foxsports.com.au.
15. "NRL Friday as it happened: Storm survive first-half scare to beat Broncos, Cowboys complete remarkable heist, Jack Wighton to miss Origin II". wwos.nine.com.au.
16. "NRL 2022: Manly Sea Eagles season review". www.sportingnews.com. Retrieved 7 October 2022.
17. "The $800k call Seibold must make as Turbo hits NRL crossroads: Sea Eagles Brutal Review". www.foxsports.com.au.
18. "Lachlan Croker". Manly Warringah Sea Eagles. 31 October 2023. Retrieved 3 March 2024.

External links

• Manly Sea Eagles profile
• Canberra Raiders profile
• NRL profile