Cameron Crowley's last major game of rugby was in the New Zealand Heartland XV jersey in the win over NZ Marist XV in Taupo on Sunday.
Cameron Crowley's last major game of rugby was in the New Zealand Heartland XV jersey in the win over NZ Marist XV in Taupo on Sunday.
The man they call 'Fossil' has chosen to call it a career as Steelform Wanganui and Heartland XV winger Cameron Crowley played his last representative match in Sunday's big win over the NZ Marist XV in Taupo.
Crowley played 51 first class games in the Wanganui jersey, including a record-equalling five Ranfurly Shield challenges, and has decided to give top flight rugby away just three weeks shy of his 29th birthday.
"I'll be done, I think. Hanging up the boots," he said.
"Probably club as well at this stage, but I'll see how that goes.
"I'm getting too many more injuries than I'd like, and there's the farm as well."
Crowley said he had made his choice to retire after Wanganui's shock loss to Thames Valley in the Meads Cup semifinal on October 20, however he would "never say no" to the chance to wear the black jersey of the Heartland XV one last time.
Cameron Crowley's last game for Wanganui will be the upset Meads Cup semifinal loss to Thames Valley.
His focus now goes to the family farm at Maxwell and his new-born son, as Crowley withdrew from the September 8 away game against Poverty Bay to see him born, with the one-week old then watching dad make his comeback against Mid Canterbury at Cooks Gardens.
It is appropriate Crowley's final game was against the Marist organisation, having been a staunch Wanganui Marist club member over the years.
Although his recently-retired contemporaries like Peter Rowe and Cole Baldwin played on well into their 30's, they did not debut until their early 20's, whereas Crowley started at 18 and has battled back repeatedly from significant leg and knee injuries, not to mention a broken arm, plus damage to his hand and sternum.
The talent was obvious as 18-year-old Cameron Crowley scored four tries on debut against East Coast in 2008.
He had two separate stints in the Wanganui jumper, being a third-generation representative after grandfather Shaun Sr and father Shaun Jr.
Crowley debuted as a live-wire teenaged winger in 2008, scoring four tries against East Coast, at the start of what would be a Heartland Player of the Year season.
He played through until 2010, before departing for Perth on a semi-professional contract.
Cameron Crowley chats with Ian Jones after winning the Heartland Player of the Year trophy at the 2008 Steinlager Rugby Awards.
Crowley returned home in 2015, suffering a broken arm in club rugby, before returning to the Wanganui fold the following season.
Arguably his finest performance in the jumper was his man-of-the-match effort in the 2017 Meads Cup final against Horowhenua-Kapiti, having a hand in all three Wanganui tries including scoring the last one.
Crowley was at his brilliant best on October 28, 2017, in the victorious Meads Cup final against Horowhenua-Kapiti in Levin.
Crowley won four Meads Cups with Wanganui and scored 140 points, while he was a NZ Heartland XV representative from 2008-10 and then 2017-18, along with his NZ Marist callup.
