Ryan Crotty returns to Super Rugby Pacific for 2024 season

Reigning Super Rugby Pacific champions the Crusaders have announced the signing of a familiar face for the 2024 season. Club legend Ryan Crotty has returned from Japan and will don the famous red and black once more next year.

Crotty looked to wrap up a 10-year Crusaders career back in 2019 when he joined the exodus of players following the Rugby World Cup. Crotty, then aged 31, played the final of his 48 All Blacks Tests at the World Cup, taking the field just three times as the likes of Jack Goodhue, Anton Lienert-Brown and Sonny Bill Williams demanded minutes in the midfield.

In 2024, the 35-year-old will have the chance to add to his 152 Crusaders caps and help fill the leadership void left by the departures of Sam Whitelock and Richie Mo'unga.

Having fulfilled his contract with the Kubota Spears, Crotty returns to the region and team he calls home.

“I have so much love for this team, it’s hard to put into words how much it means to me,” Crotty said of his return. There was clearly contact between the two parties during the year as Crotty was back in Crusaders colours, training with the team late in the recent season as injuries tested the midfield depth.

Crotty then took the field for Canterbury in the NPC, suiting up nine times in the latter half of the season.

“Japan was great, a really good experience, but it felt like time to come home. Young family life, you know, it’s so precious to spend more time with the kids – they didn’t travel with me to Japan for that last season, so I’m hugely grateful to be here.”

Crotty brings a wealth of experience to a team beginning something of a new chapter under incoming head coach Rob Penney, moving on from the remarkable success under new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson.

The 2024 team will feature some familiar faces for Crotty, with the likes of Mitch Drummond, Sevu Reece and Codie Taylor all having shared the field with the midfielder. Crotty's Crusaders debut in 20o9 came before the playing debuts of now assistant coaches Matt Todd and Dan Perrin.

That 2009 debut featured names like Brad Thorn, Kieran Read, Colin Slade and Richie McCaw. Sam Whitelock would only debut the following season.

“Christchurch and the Crusaders are home for me and I’m just really excited to reconnect with some special friends,” he said.

Rob Penney, Crusaders Head Coach, said Crotty was “a great pro and legend of the club” who will undoubtedly play an important part in the 2024 Super Rugby Pacific season.

“He decided the coals were still burning hot for another campaign, and we were of course very enthusiastic about him coming back into camp,” Penney said.

“His knowledge, his experience, his passion for this place – it’s boundless. He’s been a cornerstone of this place for a long time, helped to form the culture we have here, and is a leader both on and off the field.”