If there's one man who knows what success looks like, Stephen Crichton is him – and that's why Canterbury fans should be excited by his unbridled optimism.
The superstar centre, who won three-straight NRL premierships with the Panthers, will return to his old stomping ground on Friday night when the Bulldogs travel to the foot of the mountains for their biggest test of the 2024 season.
Very few expected to see the Dogs sitting inside the top eight this early in their rebuild, and while there's still a long way to go, Crichton admitted there is a "resemblance" to the early days at the Panthers around the group at Belmore.
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"I think there's just some hard workers and [players who are] eager to learn – when I first started, that's what we built ourselves on at the Panthers," the captain said.
"I see a lot of resemblance right now with the younger boys coming through, they are eager to learn and make their footy better and we're all on the same journey here.
"We wanted to be better than the team they were last year – that's what we have built. We have gotten better and it's good that teams can see we are playing good footy.
"In our circle, we know that we can nail moments and play better football as well. There's still heaps of room for improvement for our team and that's the exciting bit."
Crichton won 85 of his 100 games in the top grade with Penrith and was a focal point of the side's title success, including a match-winning intercept against the Rabbitohs in 2021 and stellar performances against both the Eels and Broncos.
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His return to BlueBet Stadium will undoubtedly bring up plenty of emotions for the 23-year-old, who has taken to captaincy like a duck to water since moving to Canterbury, and admits there's a few familiar faces he'll be keeping an eye on.
"It's pretty exciting … I don't know how it's gonna be running out there, whether it's gonna be a cheer or a boo, but I'm really excited," Crichton said.
"Bizza [Brian To'o] and Tito [Sunia Turuva] – they are my closest mates. I've been calling them a few nights as well, just catching up with them, but it's more just joking around and trying to put it on each other.
"Brian is on our side, it will be pretty funny if he's in a tackle. He will probably be pulling on my headgear or saying something stupid in my ear.
"There's a lot of good memories there and I'm so grateful for the time I was there.
"Now I'm with a new team, new system, new coaches and new brothers … I want to go out there and do the best for our team to get the win."
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