Brodie Croft believes he will be part of a spine at Salford Red Devils that is set up for success.
The Australian is one of nine signings to join Salford ahead of the 2022 season under new head coach Paul Rowley.
Having shown great promise at Melbourne Storm – including playing in a winning World Club Challenge team – two seasons at Brisbane Broncos proved a more difficult challenge for Croft, who is still only 24 years old.
However, he is confident that by making the jump to Super League and the Red Devils, he is now in the right place to show his full potential.
“I still had a year left to run on my contract at Brisbane, but things were floating around a bit and I just wanted a bit more clarity,” he said.
“What Salford offered, the coaching staff, Bleasy (Ian Blease, director of rugby) and everyone, the direction of the club followed the way I want to go and they put a lot of confidence in me.
“Career-wise I felt it was a good move for me at this stage. I feel I’ve got a lot to learn still but a lot to give as well.
“That gives me that confidence, having that accountability with a bit more leadership, so that’s really exciting.
“And with my missus being from England (hailing from Cambridge), it’s a good opportunity to be closer to her family.”
Croft says that it is easy to look back now and say his move to Brisbane was ill-advised, but he believes he did still benefit from the experience.
“Those two years, I’m not going to lie, they were hard years, difficult years,” he said.
“But I learnt a lot in those two years, particularly about myself and my game. It is a tough club with all the pressure externally but that’s one thing I did learn, to not read into that, just to worry about myself.
“You can’t control what other people are saying, writing and thinking. That’s probably one of the biggest things I learnt from being there, just to worry about my own game.”
He hopes that his game can flourish at the AJ Bell Stadium as part of a new-look Salford spine that features fellow halfback Marc Sneyd, along with Ryan Brierley at fullback.
Combined with Andy Ackers at hooker and loose-forward Elijah Taylor, Croft sees strong potential.
“I’m loving learning off Sneydy,” he said. “He’s a really crafty little halfback.
“He plays to his strengths really well; he knows what his strengths are. He’s got a lot to give that can help me and I think I’ve got a lot I can give to help him, so as a halves combination I think that we can really complement each other and steer this ship around.
“I feel like we’ve got a great spine shaping up, particularly with Brierley at the back.
“I’m really loving the conversations we’re having in training with regards to football. We’ve got a lot of football brains in the squad with Brierley, Sneydy, Ackers, Elijah, and the coaching staff.
“Everyone is really thorough with their Rugby League and thinks deeply about it. It excites me because I’m a bit of a Rugby League tragic, so I love having those conversations.
“The more we have them and the more we click together as a spine and as a team, hopefully that can reflect in our results on the field.”
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