Crossland chases World Cup silver lining after darkest days of his career

New Zealand hooker Phoenix Crossland can see light at the end of the tunnel. 

A silver lining to the dark cloud that blacked out what would have been a career highlight. 

Crossland missed Newcastle's 19-18 loss to the Roosters in the NRL grand final on October 4 while serving a four-game suspension for a hip-drop tackle that broke Nathan Cleary's leg in the preliminary final against Penrith a week earlier. 

The Wellington-born 26-year-old served out his suspension on the sidelines during the first three games of New Zealand's World Cup campaign, then returned off the bench in the Kiwis' 34-10 victory over Tonga in the semi-final at McDonald Jones Stadium last Saturday. 

Crossland replaced Jeremy Marshall-King in the 56th minute, finished the game at dummy half, and will likely be retained in the Kiwis' 19-man squad for the World Cup final at Suncorp Stadium.

"It was really nice to get back out there," Crossland told reporters after the win against Tonga on his Newcastle home ground. 

"Obviously it's been a bit of a weird sort of a month gone by, but to get back out there and do what I love with the people I love, it was a nice moment. 

"If we win next week, you sort of end the year on a big high. 

"I guess when I got suspended, I wasn't sure if that was my season done, and it probably wasn't the ending I'd obviously hoped for. 

"But I get to right a few wrongs next week, fingers crossed, and to win the World Cup, it's probably the only thing that can make the past month feel somewhat worth it, I guess." 

Crossland's remorse and heartfelt apologies to Cleary in the days and weeks after the tackle were generally well received by the rugby league community.

He never asked for sympathy, but sought support from family and friends and, when called into the New Zealand squad, from his Kiwi team-mates and coach Stacey Jones. 

"It's probably one of the darkest times in my life, and it was just a weird month," he said. 

"It didn't really feel real the whole time – it probably hasn't until tonight, getting back out there – so it was just really nice to get back out there and do what I love doing. 

"I don't want to dive too much into the month gone by because the people I love that have been close to me know how it affected me, but I'm just grateful that the page has turned and I can look forward to the World Cup final. 

"I'm a footy player. I think that's what I've been put on to this earth to do, to play footy, so it's been hard watching, no doubt. 

"I'm just glad to be playing. I love nothing more than playing footy, especially this group, it's been really good." 

Newcastle and New Zealand team-mate Kalyn Ponga said Crossland had been a positive influence on the Kiwis since joining the squad. 

"He's been awesome in camp, considering he's been training for the last four weeks," Ponga said. 

"The biggest game of his life, he missed out on, but his attitude and the way he turns up every day, he's been so consistent. 

"He obviously did a job tonight – did himself proud, his family proud, the country proud – so he's only going to be better for it next week." 

Crossland was the last of the four interchange players Jones used, after middle forwards Naufahu Whyte, Erin Clark and Xavier Willison. 

"If we picked up an injury in the halves early, we had Te Maire Martin there, and if we picked up an outside back injury, Keano [Kini] was there, so we just had to make sure we got through that first period," Jones said. 

"We left it up to Jeremy to empty his tank, and we kind of knew that everything going well, it would have been not long into the second half that Phoenix would come on, so it was a really good acquisition for our team to have Phoenix there." 

Crossland said the sea of red created by the mostly Tongan supporters in the crowd of 29,712 took away any home-ground advantage he is accustomed to in Newcastle, but he enjoyed the build-up in familiar surroundings. 

"Being back here with my family and showing the boys around Newcastle, that's been really nice, so I guess maybe my first game back, it was nice to get out there in front of all my family and friends in a place that's very normal to me," Crossland said. 

"I felt pretty good out there. I've been training pretty hard along with some of the other boys who haven't been playing. 

"There's a good crew here that are on their annual leave and they're still here training. 

"So it's pretty special seeing what the boys on the field are doing but there's a good crew that aren't playing but they're still training and I'm among them, and we're just trying to stay fit and stay ready, and I got my moment tonight." 

• Watch the World Cup Final on Channel 7 and 7+ this Sunday from 7pm AEDT