It was the phone call Brodie Croft had waited all his life to make.
On the eve of Saturday night’s game against the Dragons, Croft picked up the phone to call home and tell his parents he was about to fulfill his boyhood dream.
“It was a pretty incredible phone call to make, Mum and Dad have been my biggest support,” Croft said.
“We’ve had a few hardships over the time and to make that phone call to them to express the good news… it was something pretty incredible.
“It was a pretty surreal feeling, I’ve come a long way since back in the days in Toowoomba… all the hard work has finally paid off and it’s good to get a reward for it. Bit disappointing with the result but just to be out on the field was a pretty special moment.”
Be at AAMI Park when we take on the Tigers, Sunday 26 June, 4pm.
The 18-year-old certainly did not look out of place on debut, finishing the game with 31 tackles, 348 kick metres and a try assist.
His first performance in a purple jersey drew deserve praise from the coach after the game.
“I don’t think he’s 19 yet but for him to play his first NRL game away from home… he kept putting his body on the line all night and did a great job,” Craig Bellamy said.
Croft began the year playing for the Thunderbolts before moving up to play for Storm’s feeder side Easts Tigers in the Queensland Cup.
The young halfback is a constant learner and in both Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith he has two elite professionals to base his game around.
Both veterans reached out to Croft before his debut and the youngster credits the experienced duo for helping him through the early stages of his professional career.
“They both touched base with me with their support and said I fully deserved (the debut) which gave me a lot of confidence going into the match,” Croft said.
“Coops has been real good for me over the last 6-8 months, especially the last couple of weeks over the phone, just touching base with aspects of the game here and there.
“Knowing you are going out there and knowing you’ve got Jessie, Kevie and Tohu who have done it at the highest stage, it helps me to not worry too much about my job and just let them do their job then I’ll play off the back of that.”
