Whether it be helping a younger player to develop his skills or just checking in on their welfare, Lachlan Croker is a man of integrity and respect.
It's why Croker received such a warm ovation as he walked to the stage at The Star Event Centre on Monday night after proudly being named the Sea Eagles’ Club Person of the Year for 2024.
Just over two years to the day, Croker made a similar walk to the same stage after winning Manly’s Best and Fairest award for season 2022.
The Club Person of the Year award, named after a great Manly man in Doug Daley, is awarded to an NRL player, staff member or volunteer who displays the following attributes:
- Is a positive role model/mentor for the team, their staff, the club and its community
- Bring a team culture to the work environment
- Displays the core values of integrity, respect and professionalism on and off-field, or in their professional field.
- Continues to strive in their own excellence, growth and learning.
Although there were many nominations for the award, the strong impact Croker has on those around him made him a clear choice.
It also brought him a sense of personal satisfaction after experiencing a long lay off from playing after suffering post-concussions symptoms from an associated neck injury suffered in early May.
There was not only the physical challenge to deal with, but the mental side of it too, as uncertainty grew about when the 27-year-old could return.
However, throughout it all, Croker remained upbeat as he put others first through his enjoyment as the club's Education Ambassador, a role that sees him deliver Wellbeing & Education workshops to pathways teams.
In between all of this, Croker finished his Bachelor of Exercise and Sport Science earlier this season before picking up some bridging subjects through a Bachelor of Educational Studies course to get into a Masters of Teaching degree.
“Obviously, I haven’t had the year I wanted (on the field) but to be able to be in a position where I can help out a younger guy, or one of our juniors, in any sort of capacity is truly humbling,’’ Croker said.
“I’m lucky to be a position where I can do it. It is something that I can be proud of for a very long time. I know Mum and Dad back home (in Crookwell) will be.
“In having my own support network that have done so much for me, I sort of understand what that feels like and I’m lucky enough to be able to do that to help other people.
“It’s about trying to keep as many of the younger guys in and around conversations by just checking up on how they are going.
“It’s a crazy world we are in at the moment and the cyclone of rugby league doesn’t treat everyone that well.
“I’ve been on the other side of the coin in not playing first grade all the time when I was younger, either through missing selection or injury, so I think about those guys who probably aren’t in the top 17 despite how much they want to be.
"It’s just about trying to communicate with them as much as possible.
“If you can make one person’s day a little bit different or you can put them onto a different path to where they are going, then that’s all you can really ask for.”
For Croker, Sunday’s elimination final against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, also means making sure the younger players in the team truly enjoy and appreciate the exciting journey of being in the NRL finals.
“These opportunities obviously don’t come around very often and we haven’t done it (here at Manly) since 2021,’’ Croker added.
“I still remember that series very fondly. I remember the guys that I played with and the memories that we made in those games.
“To be able to do that again with a new group of guys is something that I’m really looking forward to.
“The pressure of finals football is a lot higher and there is a lot more at stake. Those situations and the furnace you find yourself in make those bonds, making those relationships and friendships a lot stronger than a normal game.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge that is laying ahead of us. To watch our younger guys be able to experience that for the first time.
“Tommy Talau and Luke Brooks are just two guys who played enough football to realise how important it is. To be able to be involved in their first time in the NRL finals is something that I really want to enjoy.”
