Lachlan Croker (born 12 December 1996) 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 the

Manly Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League seaso ...

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 ...

(NRL). Croker previously played for the

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugb ...

as a in the NRL.

Background

Croker was born in

Goulburn, New South Wales Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, approximately south-west of Sydney and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters patent by Queen Victor ...

, Australia. Croker played his junior rugby league for the Crookwell Green Devils and Goulburn Stockmen, before being signed by the

. Before deciding on Rugby League, he played for his high school's Rugby Union team, at Trinity Catholic College Goulburn, and was captain of the team for several years. Croker is the nephew of former Canberra player and

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

international Jason Croker.

Playing career

Early career

From 2014 to 2016, Croker played for the Canberra Raiders' NYC team. On 11 November 2015, he re-signed with Canberra on a two-year contract until the end of 2017.

2016

In February, Croker got the chance to play with his uncle Jason at the

2016 NRL Auckland Nines The 2016 NRL Auckland Nines (known as the Downer NRL Auckland Nines due to sponsorship) was the third NRL Auckland Nines competition. It was held on 6–7 February 2016 at Eden Park in Auckland, New Zealand. As with previous tournaments, it wa ...

. For the 2016 season, he captained the Raiders' NYC side. In round 2 of the

2016 NRL season The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, ...

, 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 Canberra 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 ...

. That would be his only NRL appearance for the season.

2017

Croker was unable to break back into Canberra's

side in 2017. In November, he signed a one-year contract with the

Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. They compete in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Manly club debuted in the 1947 New South Wales Rugby Football League sea ...

, starting in 2018.

2018

In round 1 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 ...

, he made his debut for Manly-Warringah, playing at five-eighth 19-18 loss to 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 ...

Hunter Stadium Newcastle International Sports Centre, currently known as McDonald Jones Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose sports stadium located in Newcastle, New South Wales, Newcastle, Australia. The ground is home to the Newcastle Knight ...

. In round 2 against the

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL). The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and ...

, he scored his first

try 54-0 wins at

Brookvale Oval Brookvale Oval, currently known as 4 Pines Park for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-purpose stadium in the suburb of Brookvale, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The ground is owned by Northern Beaches Council and is primarily used by the M ...

. In round 8 against the

, he suffered

anterior cruciate ligament The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. In ...

(ACL) knee injury.

2019

Croker made his long awaited return to the Manly side for their round 7 match against the

. Croker scored 2 tries in the game as Manly won 24-20. The following week, Croker suffered a

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury in the club's win over Canterbury and was ruled out for 4-5 weeks.

2020

Croker played 20 games for Manly-Warringah in 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 ...

as they finished a disappointing 13th on the table.

2021

Croker played 26 games for Manly in 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 ...

including the club's preliminary final loss against South Sydney after he made a full time move from the halves to .

2022

In round 15 of the

2022 NRL season The 2022 NRL season was the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League. Teams The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest ...

, Croker scored two tries for Manly and kicked a 40/20 in the clubs loss against

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 ...

. Manly had led the match 26-12 with seven minutes remaining but were defeated 28-26. Croker played 23 games for Manly throughout the year as the club finished 11th and missed out on the finals.

2023

Croker played 23 games for Manly in the

2023 NRL season The 2023 NRL season was the 116th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 26th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, the longest in league history, followed by a finals series ...

as the club finished 12th on the table and missed the finals.

2024

Croker played 16 games for Manly in the 2024 NRL season as they finished 7th on the table and qualified for the finals. Manly would be eliminated in the second week of the finals by the Sydney Roosters.

Statistics

Source:

References

External links

Manly Sea Eagles profileNRL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croker, Lachlan 1996 births Living people Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Manly Warringah Sea Eagles players Mount Pritchard Mounties players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league halfbacks Rugby league players from Goulburn, New South Wales 21st-century Australian sportsmen