Lachlan Croker finds happiness again in coaching

Former Manly hooker Lachlan Croker has found his happy place again, but this time, it comes in the shape of a whistle and a whiteboard.

At 28, Croker was forced to medically retire from the NRL at the end of last year following multiple concussions over the past two seasons.

A tough as nails competitor who gave his all in his 125 appearances for the Sea Eagles, Croker is now enjoying life as head coach of Manly’s SG Ball team.

And why wouldn’t he be? Croker’s SG Ball team has got off to a flying start, with Manly undefeated after three games.

Furthermore, he is doing alongside some of his best mates, including ex-Manly centre in Brad Parker. Throughout their days at Manly, the pair were inseparable, often enjoying anything from golf, coffee, to playing pranks on one another.

If you wanted to find one at training or on match day, you would often find the other one close by. And it’s that way now, with Parker the assistant coach to Croker.

“I’m fairly calm but I can’t say the same for ‘Parks’. For our first game in Auckland, Cooper Johns (attacking coach) and I were standing behind the posts, and ‘Parks’ was pacing up and down the dead ball line. Lunatic,’’ laughs Croker.

“For our round three game at home, Brad was banging and yelling on the table in the coach’s box. The Trbojevic brothers came in and sat behind us, so I think he put on a show for them.”’

Croker’s decision to retire was also made a little easier after Manly offered him the opportunity to become a coach. He got a taste of coaching after helping with the Harold Matthews team last year under then coach Jordan Meredith.

“When all this head stuff happened, I was so scared about what I was going to do for work after footy, and while we were considering what the best option was, be it retirement, or whatever was next, this offer came across the table to be a coach for the next three or four years,’’ Croker added.

“It made everything so easy. There was just so much up in the air, and I wasn’t sure where I was going to be, where I was going to live, how I was going to earn money, and all that sort of stuff

“It’s now worked out perfectly and so far, I'm enjoying it.

“There are obviously bits that you don't love with having tough conversations, especially telling kids that they're not playing, or you need to be better at this or he's playing because of this.

“I don’t love that side of it, and I don't know if I ever will, but unfortunately, it's just part of the game.

“I've been doing a lot of work with a psychologist the last four or five months. She said, there's one thing to be nice, but it's a different thing to be kind.

“If I’m saying to a kid, ‘oh, you're going really well, you'll be in next week’ is different to me saying, ‘oh, you're going alright, but we can work on this, and you can be better here’.

“I've been conscious of trying to be kind and not nice. Players won't appreciate it now, but hopefully they will later.

For now, Croker is learning as much as he can from Manly NRL Head Coach Anthony Seibold and his staff at Brookvale.

He is also trying to complete further studies to become a qualified physical education high school teacher, and on top of that, wife Abbey is expecting their first child.

I’m really happy and enjoying life again after some very stressful times

Lachlan Croker SG Ball Head Coach

Seibold predicted a bright future in the coaching ranks for Croker.

“Lachlan was a really resilient player full of effort and a real club first person as a player,’’ Seibold said.

“He was always someone that I thought would take to coaching very well. He is a smart young guy. He has got a great background as an NRL player and someone who's done further education.

“He has got a great application to get better as a coach and works long hours. He's got a fantastic work ethic.

“Lachie is very thorough with what he does and having been down to have a look at a couple of their games and training sessions, you can certainly see he is well organised.

“He’s got the respect of the kids, and he is going to have a great future in coaching.”