Angus Crichton’s time at the Sydney Roosters may be coming to an end with the former New South Wales and Australia representative seemingly on the outer as he heads into the final year of his contract.
The forward was left out of Trent Robinson’s side to take on Brisbane in Las Vegas, with young gun Siua Wong and the returning Sitili Tupouniua preferred on the edges for the season-opener, while Naufahu Whyte and Terrell May were also named on the pine ahead of him.
Angus Crichton contract: Where will Roosters star play in 2025?
Crichton has endured a tough 18-month period after featuring for the Kangaroos in their World Cup winning campaign in England.
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The 28-year-old went on to play just 13 games last year, which was the worst return of his career since debuting for South Sydney in 2016.
Crichton took an extended break away from the game as he attended to his mental health, with his father revealing he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder during the year.
Crichton has repeatedly been linked to a code switch to rugby union after he grew up playing the game before converting to rugby league.
He is now set to enter into his sixth season at the Roosters where he has won a premiership in 2019 after moving across from the Bunnies in the off-season.
Rugby Australia were linked to a move for the former Australian Schoolboys rugby union representative in 2021.
"If he comes back, he has to come back for the right reasons, which is to play for the Wallabies in a World Cup," Aussie great Tim Horan said at the time.
The move failed to materialise, although Crichton was once again reported to have been on the verge of a move last year.
Just under a week after the Wallabies slumped to a historic loss to Wales in the World Cup, The Sydney Morning Herald reported that RA had tabled a two-year offer for Crichton.
Those talks have since gone silent yet Crichton’s latest slide down the pecking order in Bondi is sure to spark the rumour mill once again on the eve of the new NRL campaign kicking off.
Interestingly, there have been no concrete links to other NRL rivals for Crichton while he has entered into the final year of his deal with the Roosters.
An opportunity to play in French or Japanese rugby now stands as the most likely destination for Crichton.
If he does eventually join the 15-man code, Crichton will be following in the footsteps of current Roosters teammate Joseph Suaalii, who is due to leave rugby league at the end of 2024.
RA’s lucrative offer to the young star sparked a war of words between the leaders of the two codes, with Australian Rugby League Chairman Peter V’landys stating Suaalii would be "terribly bored" in union.
"It’s hard to blame Joseph for going to rugby considering he is going to be paid twice the money for doing half the work," V'landys said.
"I really think that after Joseph plays rugby for a little while he will get terribly bored and return to rugby league. That’s what the majority of the players who switch codes do."