You look at the way he plays and you have to pinch yourself when you realise Brodie Croft is only 19 years of age.
In just his second NRL game and his first on the hallowed turf of AAMI Park, Croft stepped up to nail the field goal in golden point and hand Storm a one-point victory over the Cowboys.
“His field goal never looked like missing, the kid did a lot of practice on that during the week,” Storm coach Craig Bellamy said after the game.
“He got reward for it tonight and we got the reward for it.”
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Croft caught the attention of Storm fans with his scintillating performances at the Auckland Nines back in February.
He has had to buy his time since though, playing in reserve grade for Easts Tigers in the Queensland Cup.
The experience has proved to be the perfect tonic for his development.
“He can still play in the Under-20s but he has been playing against men for 18 months (in the Queensland Cup),” Bellamy said.
“That is a school of hard knocks for a kid that age, especially in that position that he plays.
“That has been a really good grounding for him, I think he has handled it really well… after tonight he will want to play a lot more NRL I’d imagine.”
