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Paul Crawley From: The Daily Telegraph August 19, 2011 12:00AM
Leading the way: Souths hitman Michael Crocker. Picture: Dan Himbrechts Source: The Daily Telegraph
THINK Michael Crocker and two things immediately come to mind - warrior, winner.
Not the biggest. Not the quickest. Not the best.
But Michael Crocker is a footballer you'd want on your team if Earth were playing Mars in a one-off Test tonight and the prize was our planet.Crocker has been the unsung hero in Souths' late-season surge. The last game he missed was against the Warriors in round 20, when the Rabbitohs lost 48-16.
Coincidence?
Think back to that mighty comeback to beat the Dragons the following week.
How it was Crocker who took the Saints pack to school. He rattled the premiers with some bruising defence and inspired his team in the process.It was the same last weekend when there was a sniff of a Raiders fightback in the air at Canberra.
Just when it looked like the Bunnies might be losing focus, the skipper stood up and went WHACK.
To a man, Souths lifted.
It hardly rated a mention after the big win.
All the talk was about eight tries and razzle-dazzle.
Inglis. Sandow. Merritt.
Don't worry, Crocker's not in this to win the popularity poll. He just wants to win footy games.
He explains: "I guess my game has always been about energy, trying to lift the people around me. I'm not a gifted athlete like a Greg Inglis or a Billy Slater. My job is getting up and putting pressure on teams. To work for the team."
Which is exactly why he's the type of leader this club has been in desperate need of for a couple of decades now.
It poses the question: What's going to happen when Roy Asotasi returns?
This is what Souths fans are debating right now.
Does Johnny Lang keep Crocker - or give the top job back to Roy?
For once, Souths can't lose.
Crocker reasons: "It is such an honour. So much history.
"Look, I want Souths to be successful but I really don't think it is going to affect me either way. I know when Roy comes back he will take on a leadership role, no matter what happens. If I stay on as captain he will still be a leader and if Roy comes back and takes over the captaincy, I will do the same. Nothing will change. Having Roy back just helps the team."The fact we are even talking about Crocker as a leader today highlights one of the game's most underrated success stories. There was a time when sensible Michael used to run around town as Mad Mick.
That was back when Crocker was the original Bondi bad boy. A bloke who could find trouble on every corner while at the Roosters. He didn't know when to pull up stumps.
Until he hightailed it to Melbourne, where he says he was introduced to a culture that changed his life.
"The best thing I ever did was get out of Sydney," he recalls. "Craig (Bellamy) sat me down but he never said, 'I don't want you to do this. I don't want you to do that'.
"He realised I understood the culture. They have built that culture since day one.
"They have had such great leaders, great role models. They have instilled that in everyone. And I think that is why so many people go down there and turn their careers around. Players know what they are expected to do and how they are expected to behave. And when people don't behave, the club comes down pretty strong on them, including the senior players and the leadership group.
"You don't ever want to be letting your coach and teammates down."
These days Crocker says he rarely has a night on the town.
Married to wife Sally and living with "two dogs and a cat" at Maroubra, Crocker admits Mad Mick is long gone.
"It's definitely a lot different for me living up in Sydney now," he says. "I like walking the dogs and get down to the beach and have a swim.
"I don't drink too much these days. I had a few beers for my birthday in June. I got all the boys together and we played Melbourne, so I got a lot of mates up from there.
"But these days it takes a lot longer to recover, so I'll only drink every three or four months probably.
"Times have changed. I have to look after myself with recovery and sleep and massage and sauna and spas and yoga and hot baths "
What does Mad Mick think of the man he has become?
"My kidneys would have thanked me about five or six years ago," he laughed.
It's funny the turns that life can take. When Crocker first arrived at the Bunnies, most fans thought he was a broken down has-been and not worth the money the club was paying him.
A premiership winner at the Roosters and Melbourne, Crocker at one point played in 35 consecutive winning games - from round 25, 2005, until round 19, 2008.
But soon after arriving at Redfern, injury struck.
Swine flu, shoulder, ankle, groin, hamstring, Achilles.
For the best part of two years, he couldn't take a trick. "I didn't cop too much stick. It was more the struggle with myself," Crocker recalls, explaining he "didn't feel like part of the team".
But this year, the perseverance has paid off because Crocker has played 19 games - and counting.
He says he feels like he could play forever.
Even at 31, he says he can't see the finish line.
"As soon as I got back out on the field I felt like a little kid again," he says. "I knew I still loved the game and still wanted to play it.
"I'd love to keep playing a couple more years. I've got one more year at the Rabbitohs and hopefully if I'm feeling like this next year I'd love to extend on that.
"Who knows, I'd love to keep going forever.
"When I'm out on the field I judge my love for the game on how excited I get.
"As long as I'm excited, I want to keep playing."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226117823522
Leading the way: Souths hitman Michael Crocker. Picture: Dan Himbrechts Source: The Daily Telegraph
THINK Michael Crocker and two things immediately come to mind - warrior, winner.
Not the biggest. Not the quickest. Not the best.
But Michael Crocker is a footballer you'd want on your team if Earth were playing Mars in a one-off Test tonight and the prize was our planet.Crocker has been the unsung hero in Souths' late-season surge. The last game he missed was against the Warriors in round 20, when the Rabbitohs lost 48-16.
Coincidence?
Think back to that mighty comeback to beat the Dragons the following week.
How it was Crocker who took the Saints pack to school. He rattled the premiers with some bruising defence and inspired his team in the process.It was the same last weekend when there was a sniff of a Raiders fightback in the air at Canberra.
Just when it looked like the Bunnies might be losing focus, the skipper stood up and went WHACK.
To a man, Souths lifted.
It hardly rated a mention after the big win.
All the talk was about eight tries and razzle-dazzle.
Inglis. Sandow. Merritt.
Don't worry, Crocker's not in this to win the popularity poll. He just wants to win footy games.
He explains: "I guess my game has always been about energy, trying to lift the people around me. I'm not a gifted athlete like a Greg Inglis or a Billy Slater. My job is getting up and putting pressure on teams. To work for the team."
Which is exactly why he's the type of leader this club has been in desperate need of for a couple of decades now.
It poses the question: What's going to happen when Roy Asotasi returns?
This is what Souths fans are debating right now.
Does Johnny Lang keep Crocker - or give the top job back to Roy?
For once, Souths can't lose.
Crocker reasons: "It is such an honour. So much history.
"Look, I want Souths to be successful but I really don't think it is going to affect me either way. I know when Roy comes back he will take on a leadership role, no matter what happens. If I stay on as captain he will still be a leader and if Roy comes back and takes over the captaincy, I will do the same. Nothing will change. Having Roy back just helps the team."The fact we are even talking about Crocker as a leader today highlights one of the game's most underrated success stories. There was a time when sensible Michael used to run around town as Mad Mick.
That was back when Crocker was the original Bondi bad boy. A bloke who could find trouble on every corner while at the Roosters. He didn't know when to pull up stumps.
Until he hightailed it to Melbourne, where he says he was introduced to a culture that changed his life.
"The best thing I ever did was get out of Sydney," he recalls. "Craig (Bellamy) sat me down but he never said, 'I don't want you to do this. I don't want you to do that'.
"He realised I understood the culture. They have built that culture since day one.
"They have had such great leaders, great role models. They have instilled that in everyone. And I think that is why so many people go down there and turn their careers around. Players know what they are expected to do and how they are expected to behave. And when people don't behave, the club comes down pretty strong on them, including the senior players and the leadership group.
"You don't ever want to be letting your coach and teammates down."
These days Crocker says he rarely has a night on the town.
Married to wife Sally and living with "two dogs and a cat" at Maroubra, Crocker admits Mad Mick is long gone.
"It's definitely a lot different for me living up in Sydney now," he says. "I like walking the dogs and get down to the beach and have a swim.
"I don't drink too much these days. I had a few beers for my birthday in June. I got all the boys together and we played Melbourne, so I got a lot of mates up from there.
"But these days it takes a lot longer to recover, so I'll only drink every three or four months probably.
"Times have changed. I have to look after myself with recovery and sleep and massage and sauna and spas and yoga and hot baths "
What does Mad Mick think of the man he has become?
"My kidneys would have thanked me about five or six years ago," he laughed.
It's funny the turns that life can take. When Crocker first arrived at the Bunnies, most fans thought he was a broken down has-been and not worth the money the club was paying him.
A premiership winner at the Roosters and Melbourne, Crocker at one point played in 35 consecutive winning games - from round 25, 2005, until round 19, 2008.
But soon after arriving at Redfern, injury struck.
Swine flu, shoulder, ankle, groin, hamstring, Achilles.
For the best part of two years, he couldn't take a trick. "I didn't cop too much stick. It was more the struggle with myself," Crocker recalls, explaining he "didn't feel like part of the team".
But this year, the perseverance has paid off because Crocker has played 19 games - and counting.
He says he feels like he could play forever.
Even at 31, he says he can't see the finish line.
"As soon as I got back out on the field I felt like a little kid again," he says. "I knew I still loved the game and still wanted to play it.
"I'd love to keep playing a couple more years. I've got one more year at the Rabbitohs and hopefully if I'm feeling like this next year I'd love to extend on that.
"Who knows, I'd love to keep going forever.
"When I'm out on the field I judge my love for the game on how excited I get.
"As long as I'm excited, I want to keep playing."
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/spo...-1226117823522
