Jason Croker (born 10 March 1973) is an Australian former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative utility player, he previously played club football in the

NRL The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...

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 Rugby ...

, with whom he won the

1994 Winfield Cup The 1994 NSWRL season (known as the 1994 Winfield Cup Premiership due to sponsorship from Winfield (cigarette), Winfield) was the eighty-seventh season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Sixteen clubs, including 14 from within the ...

and set club records for both highest total games and tries. Croker saw out his career with French

Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

club

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

. Croker competed in and won the Gladiator Individual Sports Athletes Challenge in 1995.

Playing career

Canberra

Croker was named the Canberra Raiders' rookie of the year in 1991 and he went on to play somewhat of a utility position over his long career, filling into many spots throughout his team. His 120 tries for Canberra was a club record until it was surpassed by

Jarrod Croker Jarrod Keith Croker (born 11 September 1990) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who is the captain and goal-kicking for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. He has played his entire career to date with Canberra, with whom he b ...

and in 2000 he was named the Raiders' player of the year. He also gained selection in Australia's 2000 World Cup winning squad. In 2006, Croker played his 300th game for Canberra, becoming the first to achieve this honour for the club. In Croker's last game in Canberra he was given the keys to the city by Chief Minister

Jon Stanhope Jonathan Donald Stanhope (born 29 April 1951) is a former Australian politician who was Labor Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2001 to 2011. Stanhope represented the Ginninderra electorate in the ACT Legislative Assemb ...

in front of over 21,000 fans. Jason Croker 2007

Catalans Dragons

Croker signed a two-year deal to play for the French team the

from 2007, which, after two successful campaigns, was extended by a further year in 2008. Croker's experience was of increasing value to the fledgling French side, and his physical fitness and hunger for the game are admired by many. He is regarded fondly by many Catalans Dragons fans for an audacious drop-goal scored in a 29–22 win over the Bradford Bulls at Odsal in March 2007. Croker was the oldest player in the

until retiring at the end of the 2009 season at age 36.

Return to Australia

He currently acts as a

player-coach A player-coach (also playing coach, captain-coach, or player-manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. A player-coach may be a head coach or an assistant coach. They may make changes to the sq ...

for the Gungahlin Bulls in the Canberra Raiders Cup. Croker was named in Canberra's

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 was ...

squad.

Representative

*''Country:'' Played two games for Country *''

State Of Origin A State of Origin competition is a type of sporting event between players representing their state or territory. State of Origin began in Australian rules football on 8 October 1977 between Western Australia (WA) and Victoria, at Subiaco Ov ...

:'' Played 5 games in total for New South Wales *''International:'' Played 4 tests for Australia in the 2000 World Cup

References

External links

Super League profileShock Aussie call-up for duo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Croker, Jason 1973 births Living people Australia national rugby league team players Australian rugby league players Canberra Raiders players Catalans Dragons players Country New South Wales Origin rugby league team players New South Wales Rugby League State of Origin players Rugby league players from New South Wales Rugby league utility players