Christian Crichton (born 12 July 1996) is a Samoan 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 on the for

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa and known until 1997 as Western Samoa, is an island country in Polynesia, part of Oceania, in the South Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu), two smaller, inhabited ...

at international level. He previously played for the

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Greater Western Sydney suburb of Penrith, New South Wales, Penrith that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The team is based west of the cen ...

and

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Belmore, a suburb in the Canterbury-Bankstown region of Sydney. They compete in the NRL Telstra Premiership, as well as competitions facilitated by ...

in the

National Rugby League 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 ...

Background

Crichton was born in

Apia Apia () is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Samoa. It is located on the central north coast of Upolu, Samoa's second-largest island. Apia falls within the political district (''itūmālō'') of Tuamasaga. The Apia Urban A ...

, and moved to Australia during his teenage years. He is the older brother of

player

Stephen Crichton Stephen Crichton (born 22 September 2000) is a Samoan professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League. He has represented New South Wales rugby league team, New ...

. He played his junior rugby league for

St Marys Saints The St Marys Saints are an Australian rugby league club who were formed in 1908.St Marys''/ref> They were the founding Member of the Penrith District Rugby League. They have previously competed in the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup, winning three titles ...

Penrith, New South Wales Penrith is a city in New South Wales, Australia, located in Greater Western Sydney, 55 kilometres (31 mi) west of the Sydney central business district on the banks of the Nepean River, on the outskirts of the Cumberland Plain. Its elevati ...

before being signed by the

Playing career

Early years

From 2014 to 2016, Crichton played for the Penrith Panthers' NYC team, before graduating to their

Intrust Super Premiership NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

team in 2017.

2018

Following an injury to

Dallin Watene-Zelezniak Dallin Watene-Zelezniak (born 17 August 1995) is a New Zealand professional rugby league footballer who plays as a er or for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL) and New Zealand national rugby league team, New Zealand at ...

, Crichton 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 in round 3 of the

2018 NRL season The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...

against the

. In round 6, Crichton scored his first NRL try in the Panthers' 35–12 victory over the

Gold Coast Titans The Gold Coast Titans are a professional rugby league football club, based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership, Australia's elite rugby league competition. Since 2008, the ...

Penrith Stadium Penrith Stadium, currently known as BlueBet Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league and association football stadium located in Penrith, New South Wales, Australia. The 22,500 capacity venue is the home ground for the Penrith Panthe ...

. In May, he signed a 3-year contract with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs starting in 2019.

2019

Crichton made his debut for Canterbury-Bankstown against the

New Zealand Warriors The Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as the Aucklan ...

in Round 1 scoring a try in a 40–6 loss. The following week, Canterbury were defeated by arch rivals

Parramatta Parramatta (; ) is a suburb (Australia), suburb and major commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney. Parramatta is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district, Sydney CBD, on the banks of the Parramatta River. It is co ...

36–16. As a result, Crichton was demoted to reserve grade by coach

Dean Pay Dean Pay (born 3 June 1969) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer and former head coach of the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in the National Rugby League (NRL), a professional player who played in the late 1980s and 1990s ...

for the following week. On 6 May, Crichton was selected for the

Canterbury Cup NSW The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

residents side to play against the Queensland residents representative team.

2020

Crichton was placed on report in the opening round of the

2020 NRL season The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year. ; Notes : : : Pre-season ...

against arch rivals Parramatta after hitting

Maika Sivo Maika Sivo (born 3 October 1993) is a Fijian professional rugby league footballer who plays for the Leeds Rhinos in the Super League, and represents Fiji at international level. Background Sivo grew up in Momi Bay, Fiji and played rugby union ...

with a late high tackle. Canterbury would go on to lose the match 8–2.

2021

Crichton was ruled out of the entire

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 ...

after suffering a knee injury in pre-season training.

2022

Crichton only made one appearance for the Penrith first grade side in 2022. Crichton spent the majority of the year playing for the clubs

NSW Cup The NSW Cup, currently known as the Knock-On Effect NSW Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a rugby league competition for clubs in New South Wales. The competition has a history dating back to the NSWRFL's origins in 1908, starting off as a reserve ...

side. Crichton played for Penrith in their 2022 NSW Cup Grand Final victory over

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

References

External links

Canterbury Bulldogs profilePenrith Panthers profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crichton, Christian 1996 births Living people Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs players Penrith Panthers players Rugby league players from Apia Rugby league wingers Samoa national rugby league team players Samoan emigrants to Australia Samoan rugby league players