news, latest-news

Jarrod Croker is on course to one day claim rugby league's point scoring crown but the Canberra Raiders captain is yet to map out his path to uncharted territory. Melbourne Storm skipper Cameron Smith is on the cusp of breaking Hazem El Masri's all-time point scoring record, sitting just nine points shy of the Canterbury great's mark of 2418. Croker sits in 12th on the all-time list with 1790 points, and he could soon be inside the top 10 should he leapfrog James Maloney (11th with 1791) and Luke Burt (10th with 1793). The Raiders centre has a chance to force his way into the top 10 when Canberra meet the North Queensland Cowboys in Townsville on Saturday. While Smith looks set to become the first man to shatter the 2500 point barrier, 28-year-old Croker looms as the rival best placed to surpass even that lofty record. Croker's points have come in 232 games and the Raiders skipper thinks he has "at least" another five years in the legs, which could put him on course to break Smith's mark in the final stages of his career. "I’d like to think [I've got about five years left]. I’m a lot more mentally fresh this year, I had a good long break last year. I missed the back end of the season, had a good trip away and had a good pre-season," Croker said. "I didn’t actually have a holiday, I had to train for the first couple of weeks after the boys finished. I had a bit of a shorter off-season to be honest, but I probably needed it and I’m better off for it now. "Mentally I feel a lot fresher and the body feels pretty good. I’m only 28 at the moment, I’d like to play for another five years at least. You’ve just got to enjoy these moments and take them one game at a time as well. "It’s nice [to be on the cusp of the top 10], it’s not something you go looking for. To hear those little things, it’s a nice achievement and hopefully I have got a lot of footy left in me and hopefully I keep piling." Croker's strike rate from the tee sits at almost 81 per cent - superior to names above him on the all-time point scorers list like Smith, Johnathan Thurston, Andrew Johns, Jason Taylor and Darryl Halligan. The only players with a better success rate sitting above him are Maloney (81.20 per cent) and El Masri (81.97 per cent). The fact Croker didn't even have a shot at goal during his first season in the NRL makes his numbers look even more impressive. "The first thing I say about it is you have to want to do it. You have to want to goal kick. A lot of people fill in for goal kicking, and jump in and out, and if you don’t want to do it, you’re not going to be good at it," Croker said. "I work a little bit throughout the week, but it’s a bit harder during the season when you get older, you get a bit sorer."

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/silverstone-ct-migration/c63582c0-1042-4c8e-a555-0ba1cca809e7/r0_115_2000_1245_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg