Angus Crichton thought he had broken his neck in an early tackle at Suncorp Stadium, before recovering to clinch the Wally Lewis Medal as player of the State of Origin series.
NSW spent Wednesday night celebrating one of their greatest-ever triumphs, before flying out of Brisbane on Thursday morning dreaming of long-running success.
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Blues winger Brian To’o boarded the plane back to Sydney still in his jersey, while Dylan Edwards still appeared fighting fit despite playing through a knee injury.
Mitch Moses emerged as one of the Blues’ series-clinching heroes with a super individual try and wonderful cover tackle on Reece Walsh after hobbling, and halves partner Jarome Luai beat the scars of last year’s axing with the decisive linebreak.
But it is Crichton’s story that is most remarkable.
The Blues backrower battled some personal demons last year, including a bipolar diagnosis.
He then began this year in NSW Cup at the Sydney Roosters, before regaining his spot in first grade and becoming the form second-rower of the competition.
Even his Wally Lewis Medal sealing performance took added resilience.
Hurt in an early tackle and ordered from the field for a concussion test, the 28-year-old feared he had suffered serious damage to his neck as he lay on the ground.
“I almost broke my neck. It was pretty sore. My head was fine and I didn’t have a concussion at all, but I crunched my neck pretty badly,” Crichton said.
“At the time I thought I had properly injured it.
“I felt shooting pain in my neck which is never a good sign, but there was no way I was missing out on that game.
“I had to nurse it through the rest of the game. I was happy to get through the rest of the game.”
It made little impact on Crichton’s performance.
He relentlessly hounded Queensland captain Daly Cherry-Evans throughout NSW’s 14-4 win, as NSW kept the Maroons tryless in a decider for the first time.
“I was pissed off (when ordered off for the HIA) because, without sounding arrogant, I felt like I was in a mood and ready to go,” Crichton said.
“My job was to try and get at ‘Cherry’, and get quick play-the-balls around those guys.
“I have a lot of respect for that bloke, I played Aussies with him, he’s a champion player and bloke, but it’s nice to finally get one over him.”
Crichton had not had time to properly reflect on his previous 20 months in the hours after the win.
“I’ve come a long way. I need to keep going now,” Crichton said.
“You play footy for these moments.
(My partner Chloe) has been my rock. It’s the first time I’ve been with someone who has helped me become the best version of myself.
“The first game she came to was the World Cup final (in 2022) … she’s gone from there, to reserve grade at Henson Park, she’s stuck by me through it all.”
NSW want to believe the defensive steel they found to keep the Maroons tryless on Wednesday night can set up their next era.
Winners in just four of the last 18 series before this year, the Blues looked shot when they were beaten 38-10 in game one at home six weeks ago.
Their effort to claim the series from that point made them only the second side in history to win the final two games on the road and clinch the series.
“We didn’t talk about the enormity of what’s happened in the game because it’s a new group,” Maguire said after stopping a third-straight Queensland series win.
“It’s something there this group wants to build themselves.
“And that’ll go down in history.”
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