Brodie Croft
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Brodie Croft (born 14 July 1997) is an Australian professional
rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...
footballer who plays as a for
Leeds Rhinos The Leeds Rhinos are a professional rugby league club in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The club play their home games at Headingley Rugby Stadium, AMT Headingley Rugby Stadium and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby lea ...
in the
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
. He previously played for
Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...
in the Super League, with whom he won the
Man of Steel Award The Steve Prescott Man of Steel Awards is an end-of-season awards dinner for the Super League rugby league competition. The event's name is taken from the main award presented, the Man of Steel award for the rugby league footballer of the year. I ...
and the Albert Goldthorpe Medal, and
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
with whom he won the 2018 World Club Challenge and the
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
as a in the
NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
.


Early life

Croft was born in Dalby, Queensland, Australia. He was educated at St. Joseph's College, Toowoomba. He played his junior rugby league for the Highfields Eagles and was a member of the 2014 Churchie First XV alongside
Kalyn Ponga Kalyn Ponga (born 30 March 1998) is a professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Newcastle Knights in the National Rugby League and Queensland rugby league team, Queensland in the State of Origin series. He is the ...
, and Jaydn Su'a before being signed by the
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
. He played for the
Toowoomba Clydesdales The Western Clydesdales (formerly Toowoomba Clydesdales) are a rugby league football club based in Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia. The Clydesdales originally played in the Queensland Cup from the competition's inception in 1996 until 2006, an ...
in the Cyril Connell Cup during 2013, before moving to
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
, to join the Eastern Suburbs Tigers in the Mal Meninga Cup. The following year, he was named 18th man for the
Queensland under-18 rugby league team The Queensland Under-18 rugby league team, also known as Queensland Under-18s or Queensland U18, represents Queensland in the sport of rugby league at an under-18 age level. Since 2008, the team has played an annual fixture against the New Sout ...
.


Playing career


2016–2019: Melbourne Storm

In 2016, Croft was named in the QAS under-20 squad and played for the Melbourne Storm's NYC team. On 22 May, he made his
Queensland Cup The Queensland Cup, currently known as the Hostplus Cup for sponsorship reasons, is the highest-level regional rugby league, rugby league football competition in Queensland, Australia. It is run by the Queensland Rugby League, Queensland Rugby ...
debut with Melbourne's feeder team, the Easts Tigers, scoring a try in their 52-20 win over the Ipswich Jets. In Round 15 of the 2016 season, he made his
NRL The National Rugby League (also known as the NRL Telstra Premiership for sponsorship reasons) is a professional rugby league competition in Oceania which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria (state), Victoria, the Austral ...
debut for the
Melbourne Storm The Melbourne Storm is a rugby league football club based in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia that participates in the National Rugby League (NRL). The club plays its home games at AAMI Park, and wears a purple and navy blu ...
against St. George Illawarra. On 13 July, he represented the Queensland under-20 rugby league team. Croft started the 2017 season by playing in the NRL Auckland Nines. He scored 3 tries and was named in the team of the tournament. In just his second NRL game, he slotted an extra-time field goal to secure victory over
North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...
and in doing so, Melbourne escaped with a 23-22 win in golden-point. On 24 July, he signed a contract extension with the Storm, tying him to the club for at least another three years with a view to replacing Cooper Cronk in the long-term as Melbourne's halfback. Croft was described by the media at the time as the next Cooper Cronk and was labelled a "Cooper Cronk clone". On 19 August, with Cronk rested, Croft scored a hat-trick and had two try assists in a 44-12 win over the
Newcastle Knights The Newcastle Knights are an Australian professional rugby league team based in Newcastle, New South Wales that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership. Playing in red and blue, the Knights joined the top-tier competition in New ...
in just his fifth NRL game. Despite this performance, he didn't feature in another NRL match for the remainder of the season due to the return of Cronk, leading the NRL side to the
2017 NRL Grand Final The 2017 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2017 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday October 1 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Melbourne Storm ...
victory. In February 2018, Croft staked his claim as Melbourne's new halfback. He scored a try and three try assists in a composed performance against
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
in the 2018 World Club Challenge at
AAMI Park The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, currently known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium located in the Melbourne Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the suburb of East Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victor ...
. He played in the
2018 NRL Grand Final The 2018 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2018 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday September 30 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between minor premiers the Sydney Roost ...
against the
Sydney Roosters Eastern Suburbs District Rugby League Football Club, known as the Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Sydney's Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Eastern Suburbs. The club competes in the National Rugby Lea ...
where Melbourne were beaten 21-6. After playing the first 21 games of the 2019 season at halfback, Croft was surprisingly dropped from the Melbourne line-up entirely, only playing one more game in round 25 at five-eighth, and not making an appearance throughout the finals. In order to remain under the salary cap for 2020, Melbourne elected to release Croft from his contract, officially doing so on 29 November. That same day, he signed a three-year contract with the
Brisbane Broncos The Brisbane Broncos are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in Red Hill, a suburb of Brisbane, Queensland. Founded in April 1987, the Broncos compete in the National Rugby League (NRL) and play their home games at ...
.


2020–2021: Brisbane Broncos

Croft endured a difficult first year in Brisbane and played 14 games for the club as they finished last on the table and claimed the wooden spoon. In round 20 of the
2021 NRL season The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year. Regular season Ladd ...
, Croft scored his first try of the season in a 37-18 thrashing of arch rivals
North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its Tropical North Queensland, trop ...
. On 9 August, Croft signed a two-year deal to join British side
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
.


2022–2023: Salford Red Devils

On 9 August 2021,
Salford Red Devils The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, England. They play home games at Salford Community Stadium in Barton upon Irwell and compete in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league system, British rugb ...
announced the signing of Brodie Croft from the Brisbane Broncos on a two-year deal. Upon signing for the club, Director of Rugby and Operations Ian Blease said "Brodie coming to the Red Devils is up there with any signing in recent times for this club. It has taken a long period of time to get this deal done but I am so pleased to get a player of Brodie's quality and class officially across the line. Brodie can come to the Red Devils and enjoy his rugby league again, he is still only a young halfback and after speaking with him over the last few weeks he has the determination to come to the club and push us on with our ambition, it will be tremendous to see him don the Red Devils shirt next season and beyond." In Round 1 of the 2022 Super League season, Croft made his club debut for Salford in their 26-16 victory over
Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...
. Croft played almost every game for Salford in the 2022 Super League season and following a remarkable comeback win away to
Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...
in July 2022, Crofts form prompted
Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...
head coach Paul Rowley to label Croft as the 'best half-back in Super League'. Croft guided Salford to play-off finish and was instrumental in securing the teams preliminary finals spot after a comprehensive victory away at
Huddersfield Huddersfield is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confl ...
. Due to a failed head injury assessment in the Huddersfield game, Croft missed the clubs semi-final defeat to St Helens RFC due to concussion protocols. Croft finished the regular season with 32 try contributions (25 assists and 7 tries). Croft made over 2,700 running metres with 83 tackle busts and 23 clean breaks. On 20 September 2022, Croft was named Man of Steel after being voted as the seasons best player. In February 2023, Croft signed a seven-year deal to remain at Salford until the end of the 2030 Super League season. In the 2023 Super League season, Croft played 25 matches for Salford as the club finished 7th on the table and missed the playoffs.


2023–present: Leeds

On 18 October 2023, Croft signed a three-year deal to join
Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...
ahead of the 2024 Super League season. In round 1 of the 2024 Super League season, Croft made his club debut for Leeds against his former team Salford. Leeds would win the match 22-16. Croft played 25 matches for Leeds in the 2024 Super League which saw the club finish 8th on the table.


Honours

Individual * 2016, 2017 Queensland under-20 rugby league team * 2022 Steve Prescott Man of Steel Club * 2018 World Club Challenge Winners


Statistics


References


External links


Brisbane Broncos profileMelbourne Storm profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croft, Brodie 1997 births Living people Australian rugby league players Australian expatriate rugby league players in England Brisbane Broncos players Combined Nationalities rugby league team players Brisbane Tigers players Leeds Rhinos players Melbourne Storm players Sportspeople from Dalby, Queensland Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Queensland Salford Red Devils players Rugby league five-eighths 21st-century Australian sportsmen