{"id":162452,"date":"2025-12-01T09:23:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:23:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/162452\/"},"modified":"2025-12-01T09:23:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T09:23:07","slug":"lachlan-croker-makes-career-call-after-concussion-issues-nrl-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/162452\/","title":{"rendered":"Lachlan Croker makes career call after concussion issues – NRL News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Manly Sea Eagles<\/a> hooker Lachlan Croker<\/a> has confirmed he will medically retire from playing and move straight into a coaching role with the club.<\/p>\n

The dummy half has had a horror run over the last two seasons, suffering multiple concussions and being limited to just a handful of games, particularly in 2025.<\/p>\n

The dummy half managed just four games in 2025, with the last of those coming in Round 15 against the Gold Coast Titans<\/a> after he worked his way back from a concussion.<\/p>\n

The Sea Eagles have confirmed the 28-year-old will now move into a coaching role, taking over the club’s SG Ball Cup<\/a> team.<\/p>\n

Croker said symptoms had persisted from his last concussion, and he knew it was time to retire.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy body is in good shape, but my head is telling me it’s time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’ve had one too many head knocks, and the last one was the last straw. As hard as I tried to get back playing, I just couldn’t as the symptoms persisted.<\/p>\n

\u201cMedical advice and the advice from people closest to me helped me arrive at this decision.<\/p>\n

“I know it’s the right thing to do for my long-term health.”<\/p>\n

Croker’s exit from playing means the club’s re-signing of Jake Simpkin<\/a> has extra importance, with the former junior Origin player likely to lead the way at number nine in 2026 for Manly.<\/p>\n

The Sea Eagles have also added Zach Dockar-Clay<\/a> to their roster for 2026 from the Sydney Roosters<\/a>, while youngster Zaidas Muagututia<\/a> will fight for a debut.<\/p>\n

Croker, who will be supported by assistant coaches in former NRL<\/a> players Brad Parker<\/a> and Jack Johns<\/a>, now takes over Manly’s under-19 pathways, with the club hoping to unearth their next generation stars.<\/p>\n

Manly’s pathways have had plenty of serious talent over the years, led by the Trbojevic brothers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m excited about the next chapter in life and the transition into coaching,\u201d Croker said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a big responsibility heading up the Under 19s and helping the next crop of talent coming through.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m really fortunate to have a great crew around me with Parks [Brad Parker<\/a>] and Jack [Jack Johns<\/a>] on board as my assistant coaches.<\/p>\n

“I want to make a positive impact in pathways and continue to play an important role for the Club.”<\/p>\n

Croker retires with 126 NRL<\/a> games to his name, with all but one coming for the Sea Eagles since he arrived on the Northern Beaches in 2018.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Manly Sea Eagles hooker Lachlan Croker has confirmed he will medically retire from playing and move straight into…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":162453,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":{"0":"post-162452","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-new-zealand","9":"tag-newzealand","10":"tag-nz","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162452","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=162452"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/162452\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162453"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=162452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=162452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=162452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}