Sydney forward Angus Crichton has claimed that a deal to remain a Rooster is "really close" to being signed.
Speaking with Fox Sports, the 26-year-old stated that while the club and his management were still ironing out the kinks on the deal, the nine-fingered Origin representative was poised to ink the parchment in the very near future.
“I’m really close to signing,” the second-rower said.
“It is pretty much done and we are just waiting on a few things to be finalised, but it is done.
“I don’t know when that will come out or if I’m meant to say anything but whatever.”
Although the noise surrounding Crichton returning to his rugby union roots had, once again, been amplified of late, the man at the centre of the code-based tug-of-war stressed that a return to the 15-man game was far from the forefront of his mind.
“To be honest at the point I am at in my NRL career not really at all,” Crichton said of the seemingly never-ending rumours.
“I love where I am at right now and I feel like I still have so much more to give and so much more to improve on and I look forward to doing that here at the Roosters.”
Having represented the Australian Schoolboys XV during his time at Scots College, Crichton has already enjoyed a taste of pulling on the green and gold.
However, the Tamora-born barnstormer is yet to earn the chance to don the Kangaroos' chevrons during his six seasons of first-grade football.
But with the carrot of a ticket to the World Cup at the end of the year, a strong season with the Roosters could see Crichton boarding the flight bound for the UK.
Still, the 116-gamer stressed that he wasn't placing too much pressure on himself to perform.
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“Those rep teams are always goals and something that you always strive to reach,” Crichton said.
“But I feel like if you prioritise them too much then you can lose your way a bit and then you don’t end up getting there at all.
“My priority is always to play my best footy here at the Roosters and those rep jerseys always come off the back of playing good footy for your club.
“Playing for the Blues is such an honour and every single time I have got the chance to do that it is something that I don’t take lightly and I’ll be trying hard to get back into that team.
“As far as playing for Australia I have never represented the Kangaroos or played for Australia in rugby league so that is something that I am definitely keen to strive for.”
Crichton and the Chooks are set to start their 2022 season when they face the Newcastle Knights at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday, March 12.
