Able to speak with rival teams in less than a month, Angus Crichton’s tenure at the Sydney Roosters could potentially come to a close sooner than expected.
Two games away from reaching his 200-match milestone in the NRL, Crichton has been one of the best-performing back-rowers for several seasons, which has seen him represent both the NSW Blues and Australia on the representative stage.
Entering the final season of his current deal with the Roosters, it was believed that the 29-year-old would land a new contract extension with the club worth around the same $800,000 a season he currently earns.
However, reports have since emerged that he could be on the lookout for a new club as the Tricolours look to free up some space in their salary cap.
Speaking on the Off The Record Podcast, journalist Phil Rothfield revealed that the Roosters aren’t keen on extending the contract of last year’s Brad Fittler Medal and Wally Lewis Medal winner.
This is due to him entering the backend of his playing career and the younger players coming through their ranks, such as Siua Wong, Salesi Foekti and Blake Steep, among others.
“Angus Crichton is off (contract) at the Roosters. The club weren’t overly keen on re-signing him, and he’s talking about going to union anyway,” Rothfield said.
“Why? Because he’s at the backend of his career and they’ve got those academy kids coming through, and they just can’t manage the cap and have him part of it on the wage he’s on.”
The rumours surrounding the back-rower’s future come after he recently acknowledged that he would be interested in playing in the 15-man code despite not playing a single match of rugby union in over a decade.
“I haven’t played the sport in 10 years, so I’d be interested to see where I stack up,” Crichton told The Herald last month.
“It would be a different path, something that I’m open to.”
