Eorl Crabtree will be presented with a place in the Huddersfield Rugby League Hall of Fame at Friday night’s match against Castleford Tigers at the John Smith’s Stadium.
Crabtree spent his entire 17 year playing career at the Giants, playing 423 games and scoring 79 Tries and was delighted to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
Eorl told giantsrl.com: “It feels absolutely fantastic to be given a place in the Hall of Fame. It’s hard to explain because as you start on the journey to being a professional rugby league player all you want to do is play for your home-town club and I’m very fortunate that I got the opportunity to do that for about 18 years and play over 400 games.
"I’d have liked to have gone on for a bit longer but unfortunately it had to end at some point. The club is going in a good direction now and I have been given an opportunity to try and help the club off the field but to be recognised as a player that deserves to be in the Hall of Fame is unbelievable.
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"I’ve always committed everything and put everything into making sure I did the right thing, not causing problems, trying to be a model professional and I wanted to inspire people. It might seem a bit strange but my Uncle is a bit of an inspiration and was always seen as the ‘good guy’ which is what I wanted to be. I feel that I’m being recognised for the things I did and the way of life that I have lead, I’m absolutely over the moon to be in the Hall of Fame.”
The last Huddersfield Rugby League player to be inducted to the Hall of Fame was Ken Senior, who retired in 1979, and Crabtree was pleased to be the first Huddersfield player from the Super League era to be honoured:
“It’s something that doesn’t happen too often as the game has changed over the years. We’ve been waiting a while for another Hall of Fame entrant but I’m sure we won’t be waiting quite so long for the next Hall of Famer. In the future I’d love to see the likes of Jermaine McGillvary, Leroy Cudjoe and Michael Lawrence, these players are going to be around for a while and will hopefully stay with Huddersfield throughout their careers and will join me in the Hall of Fame.
"I look forward to being a part of the new Hall of Famers, the new breed of Super League Hall of Famers because I think the future is really bright at Huddersfield. I’m just glad I’ve been at the start of that. I’ve been here right from the beginning when we were relegated to promotion and now I can see us going from strength to strength.
“I’m very fortunate to have been able to do what I love as a career and this feels like a reward from the Club to say thank you and it’s one that I’m very grateful for."
