Bump
How Stephen Crichton knew Cody Walker’s grand final intercept was coming
March 30, 2022 — 6.10pm
It wasn’t just a sixth sense that saw Stephen Crichton place himself in the perfect position to pick off a Cody Walker cut-out pass and pinch the lead en route to Penrith winning last year’s grand final.
In fact, it was video of Walker’s pet play from Panthers assistant Cameron Ciraldo that was racing through Crichton’s mind as he positioned himself between the short and long option, with the match precariously poised at 8-8 in the 67th minute.
“Throughout training with our defensive coach [Ciraldo] we were just watching clips with him throughout the week – what kind of plays they’ve got,” Crichton explained ahead of Friday’s grand final rematch with Souths.
“I was in the right position at the right time. I was in a position to try and make a tackle, I guess, but just watching the ball. I ran off with it and scored.
“Even if he did hit short or went long, I think I was in a good position to make a tackle. I was just watching the ball, and perfect timing, as well. It was good to pick it off.”
The intercept changed Crichton’s life.
Six months on from the grand final, Panthers fans still stop him to ask about the try that secured the club its third premiership.
“It was a massive change from that; just getting noticed a lot more,” Crichton said.
“There are a lot of massive Panthers fans out there. Whenever I see them, it just puts a massive smile on my face that they recognise me.
“They still come up and ask me about it and tell me it was a nice try, things like that. It’s always the same answer.”
Crichton and his teammates know all too well about the motivation Souths will take into Friday’s match, having lost the final game of the season to Melbourne two years ago.
“It’s a massive game to step up to,” he said. “They’ll come out firing, because of that last game, the grand final loss.
“I think we’ll be ready, and we’ve prepared well enough to resist them coming through.
“They missed a few opportunities, and they’ll be working on those. We’ll be preparing to make sure we don’t make any mistakes.”
But he also warned the Rabbitohs against sending too much traffic Nathan Cleary’s way in his first match since last year’s decider.
“He says he’s all right, he says he should be ready,” Crichton said. “He’s been doing a lot of tackling with Fish [James Fisher-Harris], one of our biggest forwards there. If he can take down Fish, his shoulder should be close to 100 per cent.
“[Winning without Cleary has been] a massive step forward for the other boys. Special mention to Isaah Yeo, Api [Koroisau] and Romey [Jarome Luai], taking charge of the team, while Clez hasn’t been here and navigating us around the park, getting us to the right spots where we can use our strengths.
“Special mention to those boys.
“It’s been a massive confidence boost having Clez out there, with the brains that he has and the kicking game that he has. It’ll be exciting to have him back.”
Stephen Crichton knew he was going to be in the right place, at the right time, thanks to the help of a Panthers coach.
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