Angus Crichton has a message for everyone accusing him of being a turncoat - he's been a Sydney Rooster all along and his arrival at Bondi Junction is nothing more than a homecoming.
Crichton's decision to defect from South Sydney to the Roosters for the 2019 NRL season has again exposed the fault line along Anzac Parade and is sure to be featured in the next chapter of Russell Crowe's Book of Feuds.
But what the 22-year-old wants everyone to remember is that he has been an eastern suburbs' fan all his life and he has ticket stubs from two Roosters grand finals and an old picture with club great Brad Fittler to prove it.
"A lot of people say a lot of things but that's on them - that passion is what makes rugby league great," Crichton said.
"You have to take all those niggles with a grain of salt because that's what makes rugby league so emotional.
"I did grow up as a Rooster but, for a lot of Rabbitohs fans, that doesn't matter to them.
"Coming back into the Roosters' colours is something that I grew up as a kid wanting to do. I used to have a Roosters jersey hanging on my wall; I had a stuffed Rooster that I'd sleep with at night."
The former Australian schoolboys rugby union representative was a part of the Roosters' system - playing alongside Latrell Mitchell and Joey Manu in the Harold Matthews Cup - before joining the Rabbitohs in 2014.
Asked about pulling on the red, white and blue jumper for the first time in years, Crichton said: "It felt good and it felt right."
After undergoing off-season shoulder surgery, he plans to resume full-contact training after Christmas and be fit for the Roosters' round-one blockbuster against his old club.
Despite possessing impeccable manners and his commitment to working with outback Aboriginal communities, Crichton has in some quarters been pegged as being a lair due to his trademark mohawk haircut.
Some commentators have questioned how the NSW Origin back-rower will fit in at the Roosters, renowned as being the most-professional club in the league, under the watch of the straight-laced Trent Robinson.
However, Crichton responds to his critics with a laugh, saying he had met the club's board of directors and Robinson, with all urging him to be himself.
"I'm not sure why people have pictured (Robinson) like that but the first thing he said to me was 'people in this club, we let them be themselves and we let them do what they want to do and express themselves the way they want'," Crichton said.
"He's just supportive of you as a person and he's really good at building relationships. I'm not having a dig at you media people, but you can make a story out of next to nothing."
Australian Associated Press
