Another Crowley on the rise
It was only a matter of time before another Crowley was being mentioned in regards to Taranaki rugby.
After the late Jim Crowley’s sons had such an influence through two decades of the sport in the province, the next generation arrived last Saturday when his grandson Logan made his first appearance for Taranaki off the bench in their 34-29 Mitre 10 Cup win over Waikato at Yarrow Stadium.
The son of former Taranaki halfback Alan, who played 83 matches for Taranaki up until 1995, Crowley turned out for his home province after signing with the union after several games last for Canterbury last season.
‘‘It was just good to get out there in front of my home crowd,’’ he said. ‘‘The nerves were kind of there, as expected, with the first game on that stage.’’
Crowley’s appearance off the bench came when Taranaki was in a reasonable position against Waikato, something that changed rapidly as they visitors came close to stealing the match late.
‘‘I tell you, when they came back we had to dig deep and like most close games, we will take a lot of learnings out of it.’’
He rated his club season with Coastal as the ideal preparation for the Mitre 10 Cup after it afforded him 80 minutes nearly every week.
His time with Canterbury also meant he felt reasonably comfort- able slotting into the Taranaki squad where he will share the halfback duties with Hurricanes teammates Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi and Kylem O’Donnell.
Despite the latter pair’s greater experience and standing, Crowley felt he could push them for opportunities in what was always a hectic campaign.
‘‘It’s about working hard every week for your spot in the team and building that competition up to keep everyone on their toes.’’
While there was a strong chance he would not make the trip south to be part of Taranaki’s next match against Wellington, he would get plenty of time playing for the Taranaki development side.
‘‘For me it’s about growth and development because this is the first full time I’ve had in this sort of environment.
‘‘I just have to keep taking the learnings from it and grow. I’d love to just keep pushing the other nines and potentially get a few starts but we’ll see how the season goes along, you never know when there are going to get injuries and what not.’’