Josh McCrone gets two new countries in one in joining the Toronto Wolfpack.
The 30-year-old halfback from Temora, Australia, is currently putting the final touches to his family's new home near the Wolfpack's English training centre in Manchester. Later this year, he will land in Canada for the first time when the transatlantic rugby league team switches to the home half of its schedule in the second-tier Championship.
So far so good, says McCrone.
"I'm loving my time here," he said in an interview. "I've been surprised by how much like home it's felt, really.
"Walking into a new club can be daunting at times. I've done it a few times before but for some reason (Toronto) has just got a really good feel about it."
The Wolfpack opens their second season on Sunday at Leigh Centurions, Toronto coach Paul Rowley's former team. It will also mark a reunion with former Wolfpack captain Craig Hall, the 2017 Kingstone Press League 1 player of the year who left for Leigh in the off-season.
McCrone is one of 11 new faces on the Wolfpack roster this season.
As halfback and new skipper, the National Rugby League veteran will led the way on and off the field for the Wolfpack.
Toronto has been careful about McCrone's pre-season workload given off-season groin surgery. But Rowley has not been disappointed.
"Certainly as a captain, as a leader, he's been fantastic. He's going to be good," Rowley said.
McCrone joins vice-captain Ashton Sims, another new signing, in leading the team this year. McCrone played with Tariq Sims, Ashton's younger brother, and talked with Ashton about their Toronto offers before accepting.
"It was probably too exciting not to take advantage of the opportunity they were putting in front of us so we both jumped at it."
McCrone thought the time for a move was right with a young family. He and his wife have a five-year-old daughter and three-year-old son. He also liked the idea of helping grow the sport in North America.
"I like the fact it's a brand-new frontier for us ... It's a game I've played since I was four so I'm excited to be able hopefully to share it with other kids and give them the same experiences that I've had."
Toronto and Manchester are a long way from Temora, a town of some 5,000 about 425 kilometres southwest of Sydney. McCrone grew up about 15 kilometres outside Temora on his family's 1,000-hectare sheep and wheat farm.
McCrone is a tricky runner, able to break through defences or bounce off tacklers like a pinball.
He made his NRL debut in 2009 and played 133 games for the Canberra Raiders before moving to St. George Illawarra Dragons in 2015. He played both hooker and halfback with Canberra but saw limited options at his preferred halfback position because of players in front of him.
Released from the final year of his Canberra contract, McCrone spent two seasons with the Dragons and combined well with England star five-eighth Gareth Widdop. But the arrival of Brisbane Broncos halfback Ben Hunt on a reported C$6-million, five-year contract likely opened his eyes to other opportunities.
McCrone says while his family loved living on the coast in Wollongong during his time with the Dragons, said the Toronto opportunity was too good to turn down.
McCrone knows some of the Toronto players from their time in Australia and is quite close to Blake Wallace, who calls Wollongong home.
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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
